


Ficlets (Star Wars)

by diamond9697



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: X-wing Series - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Ficlet Collection, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-20 11:03:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 76
Words: 29,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16554557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diamond9697/pseuds/diamond9697
Summary: As I have spent many years in writing communities in various places, I have a lot of short one shot ficlets and drabbles set in the Star Wars universe. I thought it would be easiest to have them all in one place, and given their shorter length, it seemed best to do it in a collection.These all revolve in some way around Wes Janson, with appearances by other characters.  Mostly Hobbie and Wedge. ;)





	1. Some People Never Learn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on Endor, Wedge makes a new friend, and Wes can't leave it alone.

Wedge Antilles, hero of the New Republic, was contemplating murder as he walked along the trail that led through the forest and back to Hobbie and their waiting X-Wings.

Wes gleefully ignored the look he was getting and gave Wedge and his new found friend that irrepressible grin that they all knew so well. "Look on the bright side boss, at least her feet are nicely coifed."

Tycho shook his head and muttered in a low voice. "I'd drop it if I were you Janson."

Pretending not to have heard Wes continued. "I think she might even have bathed sometime in the recent past."

Wedge growled something less than complimentary under his breath and stalked into the clearing. Hobbie glanced up, took one look at him and the rest of the party, and wisely decided to give them plenty of room.

Tycho, also cautious, figured now was a really good time to make his pre-flight check and walked over to stand by Hobbie as quietly as possible, not wanting to draw any attention to himself at the moment. After all, it had been his suggestion that they might need a guide while they were here. How was he to know that she would become attached to Wedge? He had hoped that Wes would be able to just leave well enough alone. _Yeah right._

Wes however, couldn't in good conscience let an opportunity like this pass him by. He glanced down at the small striped Ewok that had become Wedge's shadow since they arrived and grinned as Wedge turned a warning glare on him. Wes knew that look well, and he also knew that he should just let it go, but somehow his mouth didn't get the message from his brain in time to stop. "You haven't cuddled with the snuggly yet, have you?"

Tycho groaned. _Some people never learn._


	2. Birthday Presents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes only wants one thing for his birthday.

Wes looked at Hobbie pleadingly, “come on, it’s one day out of the entire year, don’t you think that you could manage for my sake?”

Hobbie let out a deep sigh, “you do realize that you’re asking for an awful lot here Wes. I mean this is even bigger than the time you convinced me to jump naked out of that cake.”

“Okay that was different Hobbes, it was Wedge’s birthday and besides, we both know the being naked part was your idea.”

“And I still say that you set me up. You knew I was joking, and that I didn’t think you would take me seriously.”

Wes grinned, “and you’ve learned better since then haven’t you?” The grin widened when Hobbie just looked mournfully at him. “Give it up, I’ve seen those eyes of yours way to many times for them to effect me anymore.”

Hobbie added a slight tremble to his bottom lip and just the hint of wetness at the corner of his eyes. If Wes wanted to be that way then he would just have to deal with the full effect of those mournful eyes, something he had never been able to stand for very long. 

Sure enough, it wasn’t more than a few minutes later before Wes gave in. “Okay you can stop now, I give up. I was planning on the naked thing all along, and I knew that you would say something sarcastic about us jumping out of a cake and used it against you. Are you happy now?”

“Yes.”

“Great!” Wes quickly moved back to the original topic at hand. “So will you do it? Just for me?” 

Hobbie watched as Wes looked at him expectantly, fidgeting the entire time. He never could say no to Wes, at least not for very long, and this time wasn’t any different. “Okay, but just the one day, and only because it’s your own birthday this time. Just don’t expect any other presents from me.” 

Wes let out a whoop of joy and grinned from ear to ear, putting his arm around Hobbie’s shoulder and then giving him a huge hug. After all, it wasn’t every day that he convinced Hobbie to go a full 24 hours without saying or doing anything mournful or pessimistic.


	3. A Day at the Office

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on a diplomatic mission, Wes tried to convince Hobbie to have a bit of fun.

Wes grinned. "Come on Hobbie, it'll be fun!" 

"Wes, I would like to live to see my next birthday if you don't mind."

"You worry to much, and you know that deep down inside you really want to. Besides, it’s never as bad as you think it is."

"Your right, it's usually worse than that." Hobbie had to give it one last try. He wasn't sure whether it was to try and dissuade Wes from his intended goal or to convince himself that he really didn't want to get involved in another one of his friend's schemes. "We are supposed to be on a diplomatic mission Wes. You know, touring facilities, checking out local customs, making the New Republic look good to the natives. Somehow I don't think that this idea of yours will do any of those things."

Wes's grin just got wider. "Sure it does. We're going to be touring one of those health facilities right?"

"Well, yeah…"

"And while we're doing that we will see the customs these people have regarding their sick and injured isn't that right?"

Hobbie sighed. He wondered why he bothered trying anymore. Wes could talk his way around just about anything. "Yes, but your forgetting one very important thing."

"What's that?"

"Wedge and Tycho will kill us."

"Where’s your sense of adventure?" Wes's eyes twinkled in just such a way that it was obvious that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

 _Well, someone needs to make sure he doesn't get into **too** much trouble._ "All right, but don't get too carried away okay?

Wes laughed and slapped him on the back as they headed back to the their rooms to get ready for the tour. "I wouldn't dream of it."

Hobbie groaned. He knew that look all to well and he couldn't help but wonder if he'd be better off taking a dive into the Sarlacc's maw rather than facing Wedge and Tycho when this was all over.

They reached the hotel they had been assigned and quickly got ready for the tour of the hospital. Hobbie glanced at his roommate and hoped that Wedge wouldn't ask about the mischievous grin that seemed to have taken up permanent residence on Wes's face. After they finished getting dressed they headed across the hall to the room that Wedge and Tycho shared, and knocked on the door. 

A few moments later Tycho answered and waved them inside. "This is a first, I don't remember the last time the two of you were ready for a diplomatic function before us."

Wes jumped in before Hobbie could open his mouth. "We figured the sooner we were ready then the sooner we could get there and get this tour over with so we could check out the nightlife around here. You know, see what the culture is like on this planet and all that.

Wedge looked up from putting his boots on, took one look at Wes's face and frowned slightly. "Wes, what are you up too?"

"Up too? I'm not up to anything. It's just like I told you, I want to get this over with so we can move onto more interesting things. That's it."

Tycho snorted softly. "Nothing is ever that simple with you Wes."

Wedge turned to look at Hobbie "Is there anything **you** want to tell me?"

"As far as I know it's just like Wes said, he wants to get to the tour so we can do something that actually involves fun." 

Wedge sighed. "This is not some pleasure trip guys. I expect you two to be on your best behavior while we're here. Is that understood?"

Hobbie and Wes both nodded. "Yes Sir."

"Good, let's go then." Wedge stood and he and Tycho followed Wes and Hobbie out the door. After they had fallen a little bit behind Wedge whispered softly to Tycho. "We better keep a close eye on them while we're here."

Tycho nodded and smiled slightly. "Just another day at the office?"

Wedge shuddered at the thought of some of those 'days at the office' as they reached thier destination and headed inside. "I certainly hope not."


	4. Keeping Score

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes and Hobbie sneak in a bit of simulator time.

Wes grinned and watched as yet another squint vaporized into nothingness. "That’s four Hobbes, what’s your count?"

He laughed as he heard Hobbie’s voice crackling through the communicator, and could hear the mournful tone even through the static that accompanied it. "I’ve got three, but I thought we weren’t keeping score this time."

"Well where’s the fun in that?" 

Hobbie’s sigh was the only answer Wes received and a few moments later the starfield went black as he heard the familiar hiss of the simulator pod opening. He climbed out and pulled his helmet off, running a gloved hand through his damp hair as he watched Hobbie do the same. "Admit it, you had fun."

Hobbie frowned slightly then sighed once again. "Okay fine, it was fun, but if Gavin finds out we’ve been taking his simulators for a run just to play fighting games again, he’s gonna get annoyed."

Wes’ grin widened as he turned and watched the man approaching from the simulator control center. "Who do you think was running this little exercise?"

Hobbie watched as Gavin approached, then turned to Wes. "You woke me and made me sneak out here in the middle of the night so we wouldn’t get caught, again, and you already had permission?"

"Basically."

"You do realize that I’m going to get you back for this right?"

Wes laughed and put his arm around Hobbie’s shoulder. "I wouldn’t have it any other way."


	5. Be Careful What You Wish For...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes is bored, and tries to figure out something to do.

Wes drummed his fingers restlessly on the bar, something he had been doing non-stop since they had arrived. Finally Hobbie couldn’t take it anymore and he reached out a hand and put it over the top of Wes’, forcing him to stop. 

Wes looked at his friend and sighed deeply. "I can’t help it Hobbes, I’m bored. I wish that there was something to do around here."

"We could always go scour the carbon scoring off our X-Wings."

"Well, I was actually thinking of something that somewhat resembled fun."

Hobbie shrugged, "there are worse things to do than that."

Wes snorted and shook his head. "Hobbie, with you there is always something worse."

They both looked up as a throat was cleared and were slightly surprised to see Wedge standing there with two datapads in his hand, which he then handed over to them.

"Well boys, it would seem that you have been reassigned. Command has seen fit to give you two a squadron to train, which of course means they must really be desperate. Have fun with your new assignments."

Hobbie looked after Wedge in disbelief as he walked away. "We’re instructors?"

Wes skimmed through the information on the datapad and nodded before he ordered them both another lum. "Next time I’m bored I’ve got to remember to wish for something a bit more specific."


	6. Friendly Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes tells Hobbie about the Kettch incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place during _Solo Command_.

"So let me get this straight. You were naked, with nothing but a toy Ewok to cover yourself, and the entire squadron was there?"

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

Hobbie’s image on the screen started to snicker, then chuckle, and before too long he was laughing uncontrollably.

Wes grinned ruefully at his friend. "Oh sure, laugh it up, Hobbes. You traitor."

Hobbie just shook his head as he continued laughing, taking several moment’s to gain a semblance of control again. Finally he wiped the tears from his eyes with one hand, and looked at Wes, still chuckling on occasion. "So Wedge says that he has a holorecording of the whole thing?"

Wes nodded. "Yeah, and I’m not so sure that he was kidding. Do you think he really has it?"

"Well, I wouldn’t put it past him after all you’ve put him through over the years."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Well, maybe you can get him to change his mind? I mean if anyone could do it, it would be you."

Wes thought about it for a moment then grinned. "You’re absolutely right, I’ll get right on that. Thanks Hobbie, I knew I could count on you." 

"No problem Wes, I’m always happy to help." Hobbie waited a few minutes after cutting the signal before he sent a quick message to Face, asking if there was an actual recording and wanting to know what it would take to get it circulated to every base in the galaxy. After all, he thought, some opportunities were just to good to pass up.


	7. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes' thoughts at Distna, after the concussion missile hit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during _Isard's Revenge_.

He vaguely remembered getting sucked out of what was left of the cockpit of his snubfighter after the concussion missile had slammed into him, although he had been barely conscious at the time. He remembered the feel of the biting cold as it had started to seep slowly into his flightsuit, and he had known then that he was soon going to freeze to death. That the luck he had held onto for so long was apparently finally running out. 

However, Wes had stopped fearing his own death long before this, and the fact that it was imminent had not caused him to start fearing it again. The fear had come when he had become aware enough for just a moment to realize that there was nothing left of Rogue Squadron except chunks of blasted metal and a few bodies like his own, floating in space.

They were all gone, and he was going to be spending his final moments completely alone.


	8. Going Away Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes and Hobbie leave a little present for Wedge before leaving the Rogues to train new squadrons.

Wes carefully spread the glue on the bottom of the small figure and then pressed it to the nose of the X-Wing. He held it there for a few moments and then leaned back a bit on the ladder in order to get a better look at his work. Small figures of ewoks, in every shape and size, covered practically every available surface on the snubfighter. Some were stuck on, others painted, but either way Wedge was in for the surprise of his life in the morning.

Hobbie was already down on the duracrete, working to get the last traces of paint out from under his fingernails. "Why did I let you talk me into this again?"

Wes looked down at him and grinned. "Probably because we’re going to be leaving on our new assignment before Wedge gets a chance to see this, so there won’t be anything he can do to get even with us. And besides, we had to do something truly special for him before we left."

"You mean he can’t get even with us right away, but what about when we get back?"

Wes climbed down and put his arms around Hobbie’s shoulder. "You worry to much. By the time we’re finished with the assignment, he’ll have forgotten all about this little incident and we’ll have thought of something much more dramatic for our coming home present."

Hobbie looked Wes and then quirked an eyebrow. "So what you’re saying is..."

"It’ll be worse than this."

Hobbie sighed. "We’re doomed."

Wes's eyes twinkled in merriment. "Eventually maybe, but not today."


	9. What If?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes decides sometimes it's better to just keep quiet. 
> 
> M/M insinuation.

Wes took a deep breath as he stood in the hallway and regarded the door in front of him. His usually merry features were solemn and there was a hint of worry in his eyes as he debated the wisdom of what it was that he was about to do. There was so much that he could lose if he went ahead with his plan, and he wasn’t sure if the possible gains were worth the risk he was taking. 

What did he really have to gain anyway? They were already as close as they could really be without an actual physical relationship, and it had never been about that anyway. It wouldn’t change his life in any drastic way that he could see and yet for some reason he felt compelled to stop hiding his true feelings and let it all out into the open. 

What if he was wrong though? What if he lost everything because he couldn’t keep up the charade of just being friends? Was it really worth all of that just to be able to sleep at night without having dreams of what it could be like if he only said something?

Wes looked at the door for a moment longer, then slowly turned around and walked away. Sometimes having your heart’s desire just wasn’t worth the risk.


	10. Alone: Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes wakes up in a bacta tank after being rescued at Distna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during _Isard's Revenge_ , and at some point after Chapter 7 in the timeline.

Slowly Wes returned to consciousness, but he left his eyes closed for the moment, trying to use his other senses to take in his surroundings. Still a bit confused from having just woken up, it took him a moment to realize that he couldn’t sense much of anything. He couldn’t hear anything at all, and the only thing he could feel was something that was attached to his face, apparently allowing him to breath. It all seemed familiar somehow, and as he slowly opened his eyes and took note of the pinkish hue that tainted his vision, he realized why. 

He was floating in a bacta tank. 

Wes glanced beyond the walls of the tank and saw a technician watching over him but no one else, and he wondered for a moment where Hobbie or Wedge, or one of his other friends were, as usually there was someone there to tease him about being a little to slow on the stick. Then he figured that maybe they were waiting to come in and fuss over him when it was closer to time for him to be allowed to get out, and tried not to think anything more about it. However, something in the back of his mind tried to tell him there was more to it than that, but he ignored the voice, not willing to listen to what it was trying to tell him.

It was then that Wes saw Mirax come into the room, look at him for a long moment, then walk up to the tank and put her hand against the side. The look on her face was all he needed for that voice to suddenly start screaming at him, reminding him of what had happened. He remembered the missile that had hit him and left him floating in space, the intense cold as he drifted in and out of consciousness, and finally, the broken bodies of x-wings and the pilots that had flown them. There was no one left from Rogue Squadron to be there when he came out of the tank because they had been almost completely annihilated, and only he had survived.

Wes looked at Mirax’s tear stained face and was reminded of the day that his mother had told him about his father’s death, and he remembered how he had thought that he could never feel as alone as he had in that moment. As he slowly closed his eyes, unable to face Mirax or the mostly empty room, he realized that he had been wrong.


	11. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes decides his R2 unit needs a makeover.

"Heyu, come here for a minute."

The R2 unit let out a short series of beeps as it turned and made it’s way around the X-Wing to where Wes was standing, and then stopped, waiting expectantly for it’s orders.

Wes was silent for a moment, as he looked the unit over thoughtfully, then suddenly nodded to himself. "Blue is just a little bit too common, don’t you think?"

Heyu let out a low whistle that elevated slightly in pitch at the end, an obvious question.

"Well your color, it’s just so ordinary, and I was thinking we might have to do something about that. I talked to Cubber about the possibility and he said there was some spare paint that he could use to brighten you up a bit."

The droid beeped dubiously.

"Well no, he didn’t offer out of the goodness of his heart. I had to promise to do him a small favor in exchange."

An almost musical sounding trill came from Heyu.

"No, it’s not going to get me in trouble with Wedge." Wes paused for a moment in thought. "At least I don’t think it will, and besides, it will be worth it, don’t you think?" 

A series of beeps sounded, followed by another whistled question.

"I’m glad you asked. I was thinking about black with red and orange flames, or maybe instead of flames we could add stars. Oh, I know, we could paint an orange flightsuit on you, although I do have a fondness for yellow…"

Wes’ voice trailed off as he walked across the hanger in search of Cubber. The R2 unit followed behind him, and a low warble of dismay could be heard echoing through the bay.


	12. The Real Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes and Hobbie discuss their relationships, or lack of them.

Hobbie snickered as Wes came back over to him and sat back down beside him at their table in Downtime. "You got vaped again didn’t you?"

Wes waved the comment away with his usual good humor. "I prefer to think of it as a simulator run, Hobbes. It’s just a bit of practice for when the real thing comes along."

Hobbie lifted an eyebrow. "Do you even know what you’re looking for when it comes to ‘the real thing’? I mean seriously, Wes, sometimes I think you’ll hit on anything that’s vaguely humanoid and has a pulse." Hobbie paused for a moment, and then added, "and I’m not always sure about the humanoid thing come to think of it."

Wes shrugged and took a sip from his lomin-ale before answering. "I don’t really know. I guess I’ve never really thought about it much. I just like to have a bit of fun is all, and I’ve never really looked for anything other than that."

"Okay, but if you were to look for something a bit more permanent, what would they be like?"

Wes looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Someone who makes me smile and can put up with my practical jokes and on occasion, maybe even help me out with them."

Hobbie was silent for few seconds, and then he shook his head. "You’re doomed, you know that right? There’s no one in the galaxy who can put up with you and you’re pranks for an extended period of time."

Wes just looked at his friend and grinned. "Guess that means that you and I will just have to stay bachelors forever, Hobbie, and keep giving those women out there hope that they can catch us."


	13. I Thought They'd Be Bigger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes sees an Ewok for the first time.

"What in the kriff is that?" 

Hobbie glanced at the creature that Wes was staring at for a moment. "I think it’s an Ewok."

Wes looked at his friend in disbelief. "You mean those things Han and Luke were telling us about?"

"Uh huh."

"The things that tied them all up, including Chewbacca, and wanted to have them for dinner?"

"Yep."

"The ones that worshipped the droid as a god?"

"The very same."

"Huh. Somehow I thought they’d be bigger."

Hobbie nodded. "Yeah, and scarier looking. I mean the way Han described them you would have thought that they could take out the Emperor and Vader all by themselves and not even break a sweat."

Wes laughed. "Well, they are kind of scary looking. Those eyes are pretty beady you know, and I heard they throw a mean rock too."

"I don’t know, I think the little ones are kind of cute." Hobbie bent down to get a closer look at one of the babies and then jumped back as it tried to bite his finger.

"Oh yeah, those things are adorable all right."

"Shut up, Wes."

A few minutes passed in silence before Wes spoke up again. "I think we should get Wedge one as a pet."

Hobbie looked at Wes and frowned slightly. "You’re not serious, are you?"

Wes just grinned, a mischievous look that Hobbie knew all too well, and went off in search of the perfect specimen to share with his commanding officer.

Hobbie sighed and followed after his friend, muttering under his breath. "I have a bad feeling about this."


	14. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes can't believe that he would be betrayed by his closest friend.

This wasn’t supposed to be how it happened.

Oh sure, Wes had always known that the end would come, but he had always thought that there would be more time. He had thought that he would be able to prepare more and be able to make sure that everything would be taken care of before he was finished. He had expected it to be an event that would leave people talking about him and his exploits for years to come.

What he hadn’t expected however, was for it all to come crashing down because of the betrayal of the one person that Wes had always thought he could trust with anything.

"Hobbie…"

"I’m sorry, Wes. I really am, but you left me no choice."

"I trusted you!"

"This will be better for everyone, believe me."

Wes gave him a hurt look, sighed, and then handed over the canisters of helium to a rather irritated looking Wedge, who had obviously been roused out of bed by Hobbie to deal with the situation. 

Wedge took the canisters, then gave Wes a look that let him know that there would be a talk about this event in the morning when he was more awake, before turning and walking away.

Wes sighed, then turned away from Hobbie without another word to head back to the quarters they both shared. 

Hobbie followed of course, but was quiet for a few minutes before saying anything. "You know, if it would have been Wedge, or Tycho, or one of the other Rogues I wouldn’t have done that."

Wes paused in the doorway, then glanced over his shoulder at Hobbie. "Yeah, I know that, but you and I both know that if anyone needs a bit of lightening up around here, it’s General Cracken.” Then Wes grinned at his friend to let him know that there were no hard feelings before disappearing into the room.

Hobbie sighed and shook his head before following, knowing that one day Wes was going to get the both of them into more trouble then they would ever be able to handle.


	15. Mess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge doesn't buy the excuses Wes is giving him.

Wes stood at attention in front of Wedge’s desk, something that wasn’t entirely unusual, except for the fact that he was dripping with several various kinds of breakfast foods. Wedge glanced down as something that appeared to be some kind of syrup plopped onto his floor, then looked back up at his officer.

"A food fight."

"Yes, sir."

Wedge was silent for several minutes, knowing how uncomfortable it made Janson when he had to be at attention and under intense scrutiny for so long. Finally though, he spoke again. "And it was started because…?"

"I was just trying to get Hobbie’s attention." 

"By throwing your breakfast at him?"

Wes‘ voice turned a bit sheepish as he responded. "It was just one piece of fruit."

"And yet that one piece of fruit that you aimed at Hobbie somehow managed to miss him entirely and hit Inyri instead, which then seemingly instigated this all out war among the rest of the squadron."

"Well…"

Wedge held up his hand to stop Wes from saying anything else. "If it was anyone but you, Wes, I might have considered the possibility that it was an accident. However even if I ignored the fact that this is just the kind of thing that you’d start just for amusement, I can’t ignore the fact that you couldn’t possibly have missed Hobbie from that distance unless you weren’t really aiming at him."

Wes didn’t say anything, knowing at this point that it wouldn’t do him any good anyway. Besides, Wedge was right and they both knew it.

"All right, since you started this little war, then you can be the one to clean it up. I don’t want to see so much as a smear of syrup or a spot of caf in the entire room by the time lunch comes around, is that understood?"

Wes thought about how the mess had looked when it was all over, and he sighed before nodding his head. 

"Then I suggest that you get yourself cleaned up, and then get to it."

Wes turned to leave, already wondering how he could get around the part where he had to do all the work by himself, when Wedge’s voice made him pause for a moment.

"Oh, and Wes? When you’re done getting yourself presentable again, you can start with my floor."


	16. Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes meets someone new, and decides to take him under his wing.

They all said that he needed to find something to do. That he needed to get his mind off of things that weren’t his fault, and that he couldn’t change. He was moping they said, and that just wasn’t healthy, and it could end up getting him killed if he wasn’t careful.

Therefore, Wes had tried pulling a few pranks and making his usual witty remarks when they seemed called for, but he knew that everyone could see that they were half-hearted attempts at best. He just couldn’t manage to find anything that really sparked his interest since he had recovered from the fever, and maybe the real truth was that he hadn’t even tried. After all, he should have been dead for all intents and purposes.

So when he had wandered into the mess for a late breakfast, his mind wasn’t really on anything but finding something to eat before he went to the meeting about some new squadron that was being put together by a couple of the hotshots that had flown against the Death Star. He grabbed a plate, slopped some strange yellow looking stuff onto it that appeared to be pretty much all that was left after the morning rush, slopped some caf into a mug, and then settled down at one of the tables to eat. A few bites later, he wasn’t sure if the whole eating thing had been the best idea, so he pushed the plate aside and pulled the caf mug closer. At least he knew that wasn’t going to kill him. He hoped.

It was then that Wes happened to notice a pilot he’d never seen before sitting across the room, staring into his caf mug like it was supposed to somehow tell him the answers to all of his problems, and apparently those answers just weren’t living up to his expectations. As a matter of fact, Wes wasn’t sure that he had ever seen someone with an expression quite that mournful in his entire life, and he wondered if that was a typical expression or if it was just a bad day. After studying the guy for a while, he concluded that it must be his usual expression, because Wes was just sure that his face would crack if he so much as thought about smiling. And before that thought was even completely formed, Wes found himself crossing the room towards the man, because that was a challenge he really couldn’t pass up.

"Does it do any tricks?"

The man frowned slightly, and looked up. "Excuse me?"

Wes pointed to the mug in the guy’s hand. "You’re staring at it so intently that I figured you were waiting for it to do something."

The man looked at Wes like he’d just grown a second head.

Wes had to grin, because that was a lot closer to a smile than the frown had been, at least as far as he was concerned. Then a sudden realization hit him, and before the man could even think about protesting or pulling away, Wes had pulled him to his feet and started heading for the door with him in tow. "We don’t have a lot of time before the meeting, so we need to get started right away." 

"What in the…" The guy pulled back, trying to break Wes’s hold on him. "I don’t even know you!"

"You’re right." Wes stopped, released his hold on him, then held out his had. "Wes Janson, pilot extraordinaire at your service."

The guy had his hand out and was shaking Wes’ before he even realized it, simply out of habit. "Derek Klivian…"

"Great, now we know each other." And with that Wes grabbed a hold of Derek again and was off, proud of himself for not saying anything about that name and screwing things up before he really had a chance to get them going. 

Derek meanwhile had stopped resisting; allowing himself to be pulled along as he tried to figure out what exactly was going on. After a moment he figured the best thing to do was just to ask. "Why are you doing this?” 

Wes looked over his shoulder at him and shrugged slightly, giving a boyish grin as they headed through the doors and towards the interesting future that awaited them. "I need a hobby."


	17. Caught in the Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes isn't always as careful as he thinks.

Wes glanced around the corner, making sure the coast was clear before stepping into the corridor. Not seeing anyone, he started to walk casually towards the room Face shared with Ton. Just minding his own business and going about his work, at least as far as anyone else was concerned. Or at least, that’s what he figured until…

"What are you doing?"

Wes spun around, his hands instantly behind his back, and found himself face to face with Wedge. He had been so busy trying to look casual, that he’d failed to hear the sound of another door opening behind him. "Me? Nothing."

"Yet, I can’t help but to notice that you have that definite look of ‘something’."

"I think you’re seeing things, Wedge. Maybe you should consider getting checked out. Wouldn’t want you to start noticing spots or something while we were in the middle of maneuvers with the squad. Things like that are bad for the reputation."

"This isn’t about me, Wes. This is about you and the reason why your standing in front of me with your hands behind you back. What is it that you’re hiding?"

"I’m not hiding anything. I was just doing the at ease thing. You know, like we’re supposed to do with our commanding officers."

"I never told you to be at ease."

"Well you would have, so I was just trying to keep you from having to do more work by doing it before you had to say it."

"…"

"Well, I’m sure your busy so…"

"Not so fast. What’s that bottle sticking out of your back pocket?"

"Bottle? Oh, this. Well, it’s just some new lubricant for Heyu. He’s been getting pretty squeaky lately."

"Really."

And suddenly the bottle was in Wedge’s hands before Wes could do anything to stop him. "I can explain…"

"Oh good, because I was wondering why you had lubricant for your R2 unit inside a bottle for hair growth serum."

"Well see I meant to get the lubricant, but then I grabbed the wrong bottle and so I was just going to go trade this back to Face for the stuff I needed, cause apparently he got my stuff."

"Well why don’t you let me take care of that, and that way you can get started on those reports."

"What reports?"

"The ones I’m going to be giving you as soon as we get to my office."

"Oh, those reports."

"Yub, yub."


	18. Everything Was Under Control Until...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Face learns the hard way what Wedge goes through on a regular basis.

"I had absolutely everything under control until you decided that you needed to get involved in the situation."

Face snorted as he sat down against the back wall, given that the small room was lacking furniture of any kind. "You call that under control? Rutting Gamorreans have more control than that." He glanced at Piggy. "No offense."

The Gamorrean pilot waved it off without comment, having almost as little regard for his people as most of the rest of the universe.

"Okay the fact that you apparently know something about rutting Gamorreans disturbs me, but that’s not the point. The point is that I didn’t need your help. I was doing just fine."

"You were getting your ass kicked, Janson."

"No, I wasn’t. I was making it look like I was getting my ass kicked. There’s a big difference."

"Well if you had some sort of master plan then you should have let the rest of us in on it. Maybe then we wouldn’t be sitting in this jail cell waiting for the locals to decide how they want to execute us."

"How was I supposed to know that insulting that guy was punishable by death?"

Face rubbed his forehead with one hand as he tried to fight off the inevitable headache. "Maybe the fact that he was wearing that crown might have given you some kind of clue."

"He was in a local cantina, and a real dive to boot. I didn’t think it was real. People like that are supposed to do their heavy drinking at whatever passes for a palace in this place."

Suddenly Shalla cleared her throat and stepped between the two, just as the sound of blaster fire became evident from the corridor beyond their cell. "I hate to interrupt just when it was about to get interesting, but it sounds like it’s about time for us to go."

Face glanced at the door and then looked back at Wes. However before he could say anything, Wes sighed. "Yeah, I know. We’ll continue this discussion later."

"How did you know what I was going to say?"

"Wedge says the exact same thing to me all the time."

Somehow, Face wasn’t all that surprised.


	19. The Longest Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was the longest morning of Hobbie's life.

It almost seemed as though the forest moon was still asleep. The fog that had come in sometime during the night had given the landscape a slightly unreal quality as it drifted through the trees, and seemed to cast a pall of silence over the entire forest. There were no birds chirping, no small animals moving through the underbrush, and even the sound of the nearby stream had been muted by the heavy mist. Even the pilots were quiet as they moved slowly through the trees, making their way to the rendezvous point after their search for any Imperial remnants that might still be left on Endor.

Except that after a while, Janson got bored, and since they hadn’t found anything on their mission, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to do something to alleviate the boredom just a little bit. Unfortunately for Hobbie, there just wasn’t a whole lot for him to do.

"Wes, stop it."

"Stop what?"

"You know what, now stop it!"

"But Hobbie, I’m not doing anything."

"You are to! You’re poking me with that stick, and if you don’t stop then I’m going to tell Wedge."

"For poking you with a stick like this?"

"WES!"

"Sorry."

And then for a while it would be mostly quiet again, other than the muted sounds of their boots against the ground. However, the silence never seemed to last for very long.

"Hobbie, I’m bored."

"We’re almost there."

"Well how much farther is it?"

"Not too far."

"In your terms or in mine?"

"Wes…"

"I’m just asking!"

Then silence would reign for another few minutes until…

"Are we there yet?"

Hobbie would later swear to Wedge that had been the longest morning of his entire life.


	20. One of Those Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes gives Hobbie something to make him feel better.

Wes took one look at Hobbie and he just knew that it was going to be one of those days. 

His friend had the dark circles under his eyes and the haunted look that told Wes that he had been having nightmares again, but had been trying to keep that fact from Wes so as not to worry him. Then there was the fact that he didn’t say more than two words at breakfast, and had that melancholy air about him all morning. Which granted, wasn’t unusual, but there was something darker about it all that went beyond Hobbie’s usual pessimistic attitude.

Well, Wes wasn’t about to let his friend mope around all day, and just because he didn’t know exactly what the problem was, didn’t mean that he couldn’t do something about it. So he sat down across from Hobbie, resting his arms on the table and then resting his chin on his arms so that he was looking up at his friend with one of those boyish hopeful looks that had that small hint of mischief just waiting to happen. It was the kind of look that made people melt and want to run far, far away all at the same time.

"Whatever it is, no."

"Now how can you say that when you don’t even know what it is that I’m going to say?"

"I don’t have to know, Wes. I can see trouble written all over you’re face."

Wes looked slightly indignant, which might have worked if not for the hint of a grin he couldn’t keep out of his eyes. "It’s not my fault Wedge has taken to writing on me when I fall asleep during the briefings."

Hobbie just looked at him.

Wes sighed, realizing that it was going to take more than being cute to win a smile from his friend today. "I just want to show you something, that’s all."

"What kind of something?"

"It’s a surprise."

Hobbie looked skeptical, knowing that the surprises Wes tended to work up usually ended with the both of them behind a makeshift desk, doing the squadron’s datawork for a week.

Wes looked at him with that slightly lopsided smile that made him practically impossible for Hobbie to resist. "Please?"

Hobbie really hated that look. "Well…"

"Great!" Wes got to his feet, then pulled Hobbie to his and started dragging him off. 

Hobbie would have protested, but he knew that it wouldn’t do him any good so he simply allowed himself to be dragged until Wes finally stopped in the kitchen and let him go so that he could start rummaging around in one of the freezers. 

After a moment, Wes pulled out a container and then grabbed a spoon from one of the drawers and handed both to Hobbie. "Okay, give it a try."

Hobbie looked at the container with a mild amount of trepidation. "What is it?"

"It’s something I found on Coruscant. It comes from some planet that I can’t remember the name of, but I promise that you’ll like it."

"I’m supposed to eat it?"

"Well, yeah."

Hobbie looked at it a moment longer, then decided that Wes probably wouldn’t poison him, at least, not intentionally anyway. So, he opened the container, looked for a moment at the brown stuff that was in there, and carefully scooped out a little bit on a spoon. Then he closed his eyes and stuck the spoon in his mouth before he could change his mind.

"Well, what do you think?"

Hobbie let the substance melt on his tongue for a moment, then opened his eyes and looked at Wes with surprise, like he thought maybe Wes had been about to give him something completely revolting as a joke. "It’s good." 

"Well of course it is, because if it would have been bad then I would have given it to Face."

And then Hobbie gave Wes one of those slight smiles, and the lines around his eyes softened a little bit as the tension started to ease. 

And suddenly it wasn’t going to be one of those days after all.


	21. Whose Idea Was This Again?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wraiths engage in a team building exercise.

Wes waited rather impatiently for the signal, fidgeting slightly in his place.

Ton glanced at him, then rolled his eyes before elbowing him in the side and hissing under his breath, "you’re going to give away our position, Janson."

Giving Ton a wounded look, Wes hunkered down a bit more, trying to keep still despite the cramped quarters. This of course lasted all of about two minutes. "How much longer are we going to sit here anyway?"

"For as long as it takes, now be quiet and hold still or so help me I’ll find something to bind your hands and mouth to keep you that way."

"Kinky." That earned Wes another shot with the elbow, and he muttered a bit as he settled back down into position.

A few minutes later, Ton tensed slightly as their target came into view. "Okay, get ready."

Nodding, Janson grabbed his blaster and shifted slightly so he had a better view of the corridor. A moment later he took aim and fired, hitting the target just over the heart. It wasn’t even a second later before Ton fired as well, hitting just below the ribcage. Wes let out a whoop as he came out of hiding and started doing his happy dance. It wasn’t quite the Ewok version, but it was ugly enough. "We got him!"

Face sighed as he looked down at the yellow and red splatters of paint on his uniform and held up his hands. "Fine, you got me."

Ton suddenly reached out to grab Wes, trying to pull him down again. "Don’t forget about…" Right about then a splatter of blue appeared on Wes’ chest, and a second one took Ton in the shoulder. "…His partner." Ton sighed as he stood up and saw Wedge come around the corner with his blaster still held at the ready.

Wes blinked in surprise at the paint, then looked up at Wedge. "I thought Tainer got you back by your office."

"That’s exactly what I wanted you to think, Janson, and Kell was nice enough to play along with me."

Sighing, Wes tossed his blaster to the side and held up his hands in surrender. "I should have known it was too good to be true."

Ton just shook his head, then raised his blaster and shot Wes in the backside, leaving another splatter of paint on him.

"Hey! I’m already dead, and you’re supposed to be on my side!"

Smirking, Ton shrugged a bit. "Yeah, but you got me wounded so I’m shooting your corpse out of a selfish need for revenge. Besides, Wedge needs a new partner, and I play to win."

"Traitor."

"Yeah, but at least I’m still breathing."

Wes watched as Ton made a deal with Wedge and the two took off to look for the remaining Wraiths. "Whose idea was it to play this again?"

Face snorted and sat down with his back against the wall as he pulled a flask out of his pocket. "Yours, as I recall. I believe your reason was something about how we needed some sort of release from all the tension that’s been building up around here."

"Oh yeah." Wes sighed as he walked over to sit beside Face, leaving a trail of red paint on the wall behind him. "Well, next time remind me to pick teams instead of drawing them out of a helmet."

Face just chuckled before taking a drink from the flask and then passing it over to Wes. "How about next time we just run a scenario in the sims instead. It’ll hurt less."

Wes took the flask and grinned at his fellow dead man. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Face nodded as he took a moment to contemplate something. "So who do you think is going to win, anyway?"

A moment later they turned to look at each other and grinned as they answered at the same time. "Donos."


	22. Yellow Doesn't Go With Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes decides on a method of revenge after he's denied his way.

Wedge looked at the man sitting at the table across from him and shook his head. “Wes, we’ve already talked about this, and the answer is still no.”

“Aw come on, it’s not like it’s that big of a deal, right? I mean, it’s not a matter of security, and Crespin isn’t going to come down on you for it or anything. It’s just a detail thing.”

Resisting the urge to rub his nose, Wedge picked up his lum and took a sip of that instead. It tended to accomplish pretty much the same thing anyway. “Yes, I realize that, but that’s not the point.”

“Well then what is the point?”

“The point is that it doesn’t really go with the name.”

“Why not? I mean there could be…yellow…wraiths.”

Wedge snorted. “Oh yeah, Wes, cause all those dark things that come for people in the night tend to be bright, eye popping colors.”

“Hey, you never know. I mean they could blind you with their brilliance and then rip your heart out before you ever even see them, or something.”

“Nice try, Wes, but the squadron’s colors aren’t changing. Gray, blue, and just a little bit of gold.”

Wes sighed. “Fine, but one of these days I’ll get my own unit, and then I can use all the yellow I want to.”

Wedge took another drink before replying. “The galaxy shudders at the thought.”

“Of that much yellow in one place?”

“No, of you with your own squadron.”

“Very funny.”


	23. No Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes second guesses himself after a mission goes bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes places while Wes is with the Tierfon Yellow Aces.

They all looked at him differently now.

Oh, his friends said it was only his imagination, but he knew better, could see the changes in their eyes when they saw him walking down the corridors or when they talked to him during mess. 

They understood of course, because some things just had to be done, and they would have done the same if they had been ordered to do so. However, knowing you would do something, and actually doing it, were two very different things.

Wes knew in his mind that he had no choice in the matter. That Doran would have gotten everyone in the unit killed if he hadn’t been brought down. They had done everything they could to do that without killing him, but in the end, Wes had done the only thing that he could to save the rest of the unit.

Except Wes wondered sometimes if maybe he could have done something else. If maybe he could have changed the trajectory of the shot just a little and scared Doran into landing rather than cracking the cockpit, allowing the vacuum to kill him. 

And now, he wondered if maybe everyone else was thinking the same thing.


	24. Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even a hangover doesn't stop Wes from admiring a good thing when he sees it.

Wes’ eyes cracked open and he peered blearily at the chronometer, hoping that perhaps he could snatch a few more minutes of precious sleep. Noting the time however, he sighed and dragged himself out of bed, scrubbing a hand through his hair as he made his way to the 'fresher. He barely even glanced at the mirror as he passed by, more intent on getting a shower than checking himself out. After all, no one in their right mind really wanted to see themselves first thing in the morning if they could help it, especially when they’d spent most of the previous night matching drinks with a talented dancer by the name of Takira.

Still more than half asleep, and nursing a headache that would probably require that he drink one of the mess cook’s hangover cures and at least two pots of caf, Wes stepped into the shower and just stood under the spray for a while. He could have made the shower cold, and thereby woken himself up a bit more, but he didn’t really think he needed to be punished quite that severely for his evening out, and settled instead for just a bit warmer than skin temperature. He then proceeded to wash up, moving slowly at first, but gaining speed as he started to really wake up. After all, the faster he got finished, the faster he could get his caf.

As he stepped out of the 'fresher and wrapped a towel around his waist, he paused to actually take a good look at himself now that he was somewhat presentable. Flicking the hair off his forehead with his fingers, he studied his image for a moment, turning first to one side, then the other, checking and rechecking each profile carefully. Finally, he nodded to himself and then grinned merrily at his reflection, despite the fact that his head was still pounding.

"Note to self, even with a hangover, the left side is still the best side."


	25. Who Needs Sleep?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes a lot to get Wes ready to face the galaxy in the morning.

BEEPBEEPBEEP

Wes groaned as the alarm went off, reaching out from under the covers to slam the button with his hand so it would just shut up. He didn’t bother to pull his arm back into the cocoon-like warmth of blankets that he had rolled himself up in, but instead left it hanging along the side of the bed with the backs of his fingers brushing the floor. He didn’t so much as stir again for another seven minutes, when his cozy little world was once again thrown into chaos.

BEEPBEEPBEEP

This time, it was more of a growl that drifted out from under the covers, and when his hand slammed the poor button it was with a bit more force, causing the whole thing to jump. There was the distinct sound of muttering that vaguely resembled the words ‘ten more minutes, mom’, as a tousled head of hair made a brief appearance. Then the blankets shifted as his body curled up into itself and he tried to drift back to sleep again. 

BEEPBEEPBEEP

The blankets were finally thrown off with a deep sigh, and Wes sat up and shut off the alarm, glaring balefully at the machine the whole time. He muttered something about bringing his blaster with him one morning and taking care of the damn thing once and for all, as he dragged himself out of bed. Then he made his way slowly to the ‘fresher in order to get ready to face another day.

By the time he had peed, showered, dressed, brushed his teeth, and fingercombed his hair, he was in better mood. And once he had a cup or two of caf in him, then he was downright chipper. He even whistled to himself as he headed for the briefing that Wedge was giving to the Wraiths later that morning. After all, those briefings were Wes’ favorite places for catching up on all the precious sleep he lost when that damn alarm went off.


	26. My Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes makes a mistake, and goes to Hobbie for help.

“You did WHAT?”

“Hobbie, I swear, it wasn’t my fault this time.”

“Wes, that’s what you always say.”

“Yeah, but this time I really mean it.”

“You always say that too.”

“Do you really think I would have gone with her if I had known.”

“Well…”

“Hey, I may be a lot of things, but I am not that kind of a bastard. Besides, I rather like living, and that kind of thing tends to significantly shorten a guy’s lifespan.”

“There were no signs? Nothing to tell you that she was married?”

“Nothing. There were no tattoo’s, none of that strange stuff some of them do with their fur, and she wasn’t wearing a ring either. Oh, and there’s one other thing…”

“I’m afraid to ask what else there might be.”

“Her husband is kind of important.”

“…how important?”

“One of the new Senator’s important.”

“….”

“Sorry?”

“You did the new Senator’s wife?”

“Uh huh.”

“You did the new Senator’s wife?”

“Yeah…”

“You did the new Senator’s wife!”

“I think I already covered that.”

“Pack your bags. We have got to get you out of here before…”

“JANSON!”

“…Wedge finds out. Well Wes, it’s been nice knowing you.”

“Hobbie, where are you going? You can’t just leave me like this…”

“You made your bed, so now you can get yourself out of it. I’m not saving you this time.”

“Actually, I didn’t make the bed, but I suppose that’s beside the point isn’t it? Hobbie, wait, don’t…go. Sithspit.”


	27. Fortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes does a little bit of trading with some of their new friends.

“Wes, are you ready to go yet, or are you planning on staying in this Force forsaken forest for another couple of days?”

Wes poked his head out of the Ewok shaman’s hut for a moment and made a motion with his hand that Wedge knew from experience meant to wait. “I won’t be too much longer.” He then disappeared back inside the hut.

Wedge shook his head and started to go over his preflight checklist while he waited. A few minutes later, Wes appeared again, whistling to himself as he stuffed something into a pocket of his flight suit. Wedge paused and lifted an eyebrow slightly. “I would have thought that even you would have had enough of your little friends by now.”

“I had to do a bit of trading before we left, that’s all.”

“Uh huh, and what kind of trading did you do, exactly.”

Wes’ look was as innocent as Wedge had ever seen it when he pulled the small bag back out of his pocket and showed it to Wedge. “It’s nothing much, really.”

“Well then you won’t mind showing me the ‘nothing much’ that you’ve obtained, will you?”

Wes opened the bag and poured a bunch of small, brightly colored stones into his hand. “They're fortune stones.”

“Fortune stones?”

“Yep. The shamans roll them around in this big bark bowl, and use the patterns to understand the meanings of big events in the life of the tribe. Then they can decide how to best go about reacting in order to have the best outcome to the situation.”

“So, you speak Ewok now?”

“Well, a little, but mostly C-3PO translated for me.”

Wedge made a mental note to talk to the droid about doing any sort of translating for Janson in the future. “And you wanted these little stones because…”

“Well I figured I’d give them to Hobbie for his birthday present. Then he can use them to figure out all the stuff he needs to mourn about before he has to mourn about it, and he’ll know which of his faces to use based on the severity of the situation.”

“Right. And, what exactly did you trade to the shaman in order to get Hobbie’s birthday present?”

About that time C-3PO’s voice could be heard coming from the hut. “I must insist that you untie me, as I am most certainly not your property, regardless of what you have been lead to believe.”

Wes looked at Wedge and grinned. “Oh, nothing important.”


	28. Standard Procedure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes schools someone on proper etiquette.

She had to be the most beautiful woman in the cantina, which wasn’t really saying all that much on this particular night, but Wes was still making plans to approach her. He had no real choice really, because if he wanted to keep up his glowing reputation as a Ladies Man, then he had to make the effort. Otherwise people might start to think he had lost his touch or something, and Wes simply couldn’t let rumors like that start floating around.

So, after a few moments of contemplating the best way to go about it, he finally walked up to her and flashed the charming, boyish, lopsided smile that was his trademark. “Excuse me Miss, but I was…”

SLAP!

Wes blinked and raised his hand to his cheek, more in confusion than from the sting of the slap. “What did you do that for?”

The woman sniffed, as though it were the most obvious thing in the galaxy. “Because you deserved it.”

“I didn’t even do anything!”

“You were hitting on me.”

“Well, yeah, but I hadn’t actually done it yet! Standard procedure is that you wait until after I make the proposition, and then you slap me.”

She sighed in that way that said that she has been heavily burdened with something. “Okay fine, go ahead.”

“Thank you.” Wes cleared his throat, dropped his hand back to his side, and took a moment to replace the smile. “Excuse me Miss, but I was wondering if I could sit down here and buy a lovely lady a drink.”

SLAP! “There, was that sufficient?”

Wes rubbed the other cheek, which now sported a matching hand print, and winked at her “It was perfect, thank you for your cooperation.”

His reputation intact, Wes made his way back to the table, and the amused looks of his friends. And most importantly, to the drinks they now had waiting for him.


	29. About Last Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes stalks his prey.

Wes moved quietly, his blaster at the ready, listening for any unusual sounds in the room. Every few steps he would pause and check the area around him for anything that might alert someone to his presence. Only then, when he was sure that he was still unnoticed, would he continue on towards his goal.

He sidestepped the various landmines that threatened to give him away, and used the bigger shadows and obstacles as cover, just in case something were to go wrong. He was pleased that everything seemed to be going so well, but refused to congratulate himself before the deed had actually been accomplished. It was never a good idea to get ahead of himself in these kinds of situations after all, as doing so could lead to a fate that was far worse than death.

Finally, he was in range, and he raised his blaster. He only took a moment to get his target in his cross-hairs, and then with an almost ruthless smile, he fired.

The intended target sputtered and sat straight up in bed, blinking his eyes and trying to figure out exactly where the stream of water had come from. Then Face's gaze landed on the smirking man standing at the foot of his bed with a water blaster, and a mischievous grin on his face. 

“I thought you might need a wake up call after last night.”

“Janson, you are a dead man.”

Wes just laughed as he turned and headed back out the door. “I know, but at least I’m a dry one!”


	30. Cleaning Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rogues clean up a problem, and Wes can't help having a bit of fun during the process.

The Interceptor rolled into his targeting brackets, and Janson fired. As soon as he saw fire flare in the cockpit he looped to starboard and back into the thick of things, not bothering to actually watch the vehicle detonate. 

“Thanks for the help, Three.”

“No problem, Nine, although you really should be more careful cleaning up your messes. You can’t expect me to pull your ass out of the fire every time you get into trouble.”

He was rather gratified by the sputtering he got in response. “I always clean up after myself!”

Wes dove, avoiding a burst of laser fire and noting the flash of an explosion in his peripheral vision as Hobbie vaped the TIE that had been on his tail. “Seems like you might have missed a spot.”

A moment later, Wedge’s voice crackled over the comlink. “Three, Leader. A little more vaping, and a little less chatter.”

Wes sighed. Wedge always did find a way to ruin all of his fun. “Yes, Lead.” Then he gave himself a mental pat on the back for not calling Wedge ‘mom’, even as he fired another burst of lasers and gave the Rogues one less squint to worry about.


	31. The Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes wakes up in a rather unexpected situation.
> 
> M/M insinuation.

Wes didn’t want to get out of bed. He was warm, comfortable, and happily curled up against somebody’s back with his arm draped over their chest. And while a part of his mind was trying to tell him that something seemed a bit off about the whole situation, Wes was inclined to ignore that part and simply drift back to sleep. That was, until his hand drifted a bit and he realized exactly what it was that his mind had been trying to tell him. 

The somebody he was curled up to was definitely not a female somebody. 

Slowly, Wes opened his eyes a crack and noticed the tousled mop of blond hair and that specific scent that could only belong to one person.

Oh kriff.

Wes carefully tried to move his arm and slide away from his friend without waking him, but then Hobbie made a negative noise and started to shift closer again, so Wes had to stop or risk waking him up. Briefly he wondered exactly how much they had to drink the day before, and exactly what they had done to end up...

He paused his thought to check under the sheets.

...Naked in bed together.

He hoped it wasn’t what he thought it might be.

Kinda.

Pushing that thought out of his mind, he glanced around the immediate area and noticed the stuffed bantha close at hand. Carefully, he lifted the hand that was draped across Hobbie, and reached slowly for the bantha. Once he had that in hand, Wes placed it just under Hobbie’s arm, and had to bite back the sigh of relief when Hobbie clutched it to his chest. Then he slowly moved away from Hobbie and slipped out of the bed.

He started to congratulate himself when he noticed one slight problem with his plan to keep Hobbie in the dark about what had happened.

They had been in Wes’ bunk.

Sithspit.


	32. Too Quiet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are never what they seem when Wes is around.

“This isn’t like him.”

“I know, and it’s rather disconcerting to say the least.”

“He hasn’t said anything?”

“Nope, not so much as a grunt since he woke up this morning.”

“That’s what, going on six hours now?”

“More like eight actually. He woke up early.”

“He not talking, and he woke up early? Are you sure he’s not sick?”

“Positive. I took even him down to have the med droids look him over. He’s fine.”

“Is he upset about something?”

“I…”

The conversation trailed off as Wes entered the Cantina and made his way to the bar. He could feel everyone looking at him as he nodded to the bartender, who gave him the usual, and then settled down to have his drink. After a moment he could hear the conversation resume in hushed whispers, and could just make out that they were debating on which one of them was going to come over and try and get him to talk to them.

Wes smirked to himself as he wondered how much longer he could get away with this particular prank, and which of his squadmates would try and kill him first this time, when all was said and done.


	33. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes loses something rather important.

Hobbie paused as he walked through the door of the quarters that he shared with Wes, and his first thought was to wonder who it was that might have set off a bomb in their room. When he had left to go to breakfast everything had been relatively tidy, and the beds have even been made, but now nothing seemed to be in it’s proper place. Sheets, clothes, and assorted other items, were strewn around the room in complete chaos. 

Frowning as he made his way further into the room, he paused only long enough to pick up the stuffed bantha that was half buried under one of Wes’ flightsuits, then made his way towards the back of the room where his friend was sitting. Hobbie’s frowned only deepened when he saw Wes with his face buried in his hands, looking completely miserable.

“Wes, what’s wrong?”

Wes voice came out muffled, as he didn’t even look up when Hobbie spoke to him. “I can’t find it. I’ve looked everywhere and it’s just not here. I…I don’t know what to do.”

Hobbie settled down on the bunk beside his friend and put a hand on his back, trying to comfort Wes despite not knowing what it was exactly that Wes had lost. “I’m sure it will turn up, Wes. Just try and remember the last place that you had it.”

“That’s just it, though, I can’t remember the last time I had it.”

“Well, maybe I can help you find it then.”

“Could you really?”

“Of course I can, what are friends for?” Hobbie then paused for a moment before finally asking the question that was foremost in his mind. “So, what exactly is it that you’re looking for anyway?”

It was then that Wes finally looked up, and Hobbie knew from the moment he saw the twinkle in Wes’ eyes that he had been had. 

“My mind.”

Hobbie just stared at him for a moment, then got to his feet and headed back the way he had come. 

“Hobbie, you’re not mad at me, are you?”

Pausing in the doorway, he turned back to look at Wes. “No, I’m not mad at you, but there are some things I just can’t help you with, and finding your mind would definitely qualify as one of them.” And then he left Wes to clean up the mess.


	34. Trouble at the Cantina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes tries to explain why he's in trouble this time.

“Okay, so last night I was just minding my own business, having a quick drink over at the bar.”

“Alone?”

“Well, mostly alone.”

“How can you be mostly alone, Wes? You either are, or you’re not.”

“Well, she barely even came up to my chin…”

“Right. So you were having a nice quiet drink with your little friend, and then what happened?”

“Well these two Twi’lek came up and accused me of trying to seduce their sister, and then they jumped me.”

“Did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Did you try and seduce their sister?”

“No, I did not try and seduce their sister. She tried to seduce me.”

“….”

“She did!”

“Uh huh. So they jumped you for whatever reason, and you ended up getting into yet another brawl.”

“They started it! I just made sure to finish it before the damage got too bad.”

“Wes, you destroyed every piece of furniture in the place, and left scorch marks on the bar and two of the walls. And that’s not even counting the damage to the ‘fresher.”

“But the cantina was still standing, so it could have been a lot worse.”

“You don’t honestly expect me to believe that whole story, do you?”

“Wedge, I swear that’s exactly what happened. Even I wouldn’t make up something like that.”

“What about that time you claimed that a Rhodian bounty hunter shot up that cantina on Coruscant?”

“I already told you, he shot first!”

“Yeah, that’s what they all say.”


	35. If

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes loses a bet, and has to pay up.
> 
> Just a wee bit of M/M!

“If I win then you have to ask out that pretty mechanic that you’ve been eyeing, but haven’t had the nerve to talk to yet.”

Hobbie looked at Wes skeptically for a moment. “And if I win?”

“If you win, then I have to kiss an Ewok.”

“On the lips?”

Wes thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure, why not.”

Knowing that was just too good of an opportunity to pass up, Hobbie nodded. “Alright then, one hand, winner takes all.”

“Deal the cards.”

_A few minutes later…_

Wes sighed and tossed his cards on the table, then looked at Hobbie hopefully. “How about the best two out of three?”

“Oh no, we had a deal, and now you have to pucker up and make good on it.”

“Please?”

“Well…”

“Yes! Okay, but this time I deal.”

_Several more minutes later…_

“Sithspit!”

“I hope you’ve got your Ewok already picked out, because I’m not going to let you talk your way out of this or put it off so long that I don’t even remember what the bet was in the first place.”

“Like that would happen.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Okay, okay. Let’s go and get this over with then.”

_Fifteen minutes later…_

Hobbie scurried around the corner, Wes right on his heels, running as though their lives depended on it. “That wasn’t what I had in mind, Wes!”

“He pretended to be an Ewok, so it counts! And you can kill me when we get out of this.”

“Don’t you mean if?”


	36. The Blame Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes reminds Wedge what he missed while he was gone on training duty.

Wedge sighed as he looked at Janson, and for what must have been the hundredth time he questioned exactly why he had chosen to bring the man along as his second-in-command instead of Hobbie. Oh sure, there was the fact that Wes fit in with the Wraiths a hell of a lot better than Hobbie ever would, but there were times when Wedge wondered if that was really a good enough reason. Times like right now for instance. “Okay, go ahead and start trying to talk your way out of this one.”

Wes took on a wounded look that Wedge was sure he must have spent hours practicing in front of the mirror. “Wedge, after all that we’ve been through, I’m hurt that you would think that I…”

“Save it, Wes. Just tell me what happened.”

“Okay fine. I was sitting in the mess, eating my lunch and going over those reports that you wanted me to look at, when I heard Loran and Phanan in the corridor.”

“They just happened to pass at that exact moment, huh?”

“I know, I guess that I was just lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.”

Wedge refrained from rolling his eyes and made a gesture for Janson to continue. 

“Now you know that those two are always getting into trouble, so I decided to check it out and make sure that whatever they were doing wasn’t going to cause any real catastrophes or anything. Especially since General Crespin was already breathing down our necks about that whole incident in the hanger the other day.”

“You mean that other thing that you had nothing to do with?”

“Exactly. So I followed them, but by the time I had figured out that something was going on, it was already too late.”

“So it’s because you had been following _them_ that you happened to be in Grinder’s quarters when he discovered that all his furniture, such that it is, is now bolted to the ceiling.”

“Precisely.”

“So what your really trying to say is…’

“It wasn’t my fault.”

Wedge looked at Wes for a long moment, and then shook his head. “And to think, all that time while you were playing instructor with Hobbie, and I never once heard those words.”

Wes just grinned. “I always knew that you missed me.”


	37. Worse Than Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes brings Hobbie a get well gift.

Wes walked into the medical bay, one hand behind his back, and smiled when he saw that Hobbie was awake and not still immersed in his favorite skin treatment. He perched carefully on the edge of his friend’s bed and grinned. “So, I see you managed to keep your bacta bath down to two days this time. What’s the matter, losing your taste for the stuff?”

Hobbie shrugged, his usual mournful expression firmly in place. “I tried to talk them into another few hours, but they said I was starting to wrinkle, so I had to come out.”

Wes shook his head, making a soft tsking noise. “Those med droids are always ruining all your fun.” Then he grinned. “But fear not, because I’ve brought you something to make you forget all about your current troubles.”

The look Hobbie gave Wes was somewhere between nervous, and skeptical. “What kind of something?”

“A good something. A present to welcome you back from the almost, but not quite, dead.” And with that, Wes handed Hobbie a small package wrapped in bright yellow paper.

Hobbie squinted as he carefully took the package and held it at arm’s length. “What are you trying to do, blind me?”

“Hey, I’ll have you know that yellow is a very cheery color, and you can never have too much cheer. Besides, it’s not like it’s going to kill you or anything.”

“There are worse things than dying, you know.”

“Now what could be worse than dying? I mean sure you’ve got that whole rest in peace thing going on, but look at all the things that you’d be missing.”

“You mean like emotional turmoil? Physical hardship? Possible disintegration?”

“Eh, those things are just around to help prepare you for all the other stuff that life has to offer.” Wes’ eyes twinkled. “You know, like big colorful explosions, midwinter celebrations, and me.”

Hobbie just looked at him for a long moment. “This conversation is just a way to distract me because I should be afraid of what’s in this box, right?”

Wes looked innocent as he hopped off the bed. “Of course not. That box is full of sweet, gooey, goodness to help get the taste of the bacta out of your mouth.”

Hobbie looked doubtful as he carefully removed the paper and then opened the box. “Cookies?”

Wes nodded and waited until Hobbie had taken a tentative bite. “I made them myself.”

Hobbie barely managed to keep from spitting the cookie bits all over his bed. He wiped his mouth and then mock-glared at Wes. “You really are trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

“Nah, if I was really trying to kill you, I would have had Wedge help me.”

“Point taken.”


	38. We've Got Spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because Hobbie has the best legs.

“Spirit!”

Hobbie looked up from his breakfast and lifted an eyebrow at his friend. “Excuse me?”

“That’s what we need around here.”

“Spirit?”

Wes nodded and sat down. “Exactly!”

The confusion was evident in Hobbie’s eyes as he tried to figure out what exactly Wes was talking about this time. “You think we need more things around here that go bump in the night?”

Shaking his head, Wes leaned over the table and grabbed a piece of what looked like some kind of meat off of Hobbie’s plate. “No, no, not that kind of spirit.”

Hobbie stabbed at Wes’ hand with his fork, but wasn’t quite fast enough to get to it before the prize had disappeared into Wes’ mouth . “So, we need more alcohol? I thought we were pretty well stocked actually, but I’m sure if we went through the right channels…”

Wes swallowed, then looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. “Well, we can never really have too much of that, but that’s not what I’m talking about either. What I’m talking about is that whole enthusiasm, intense loyalty, and togetherness kind of spirit.”

Hobbie’s look went from confusion to suspicion in about two microseconds. “And what exactly does that mean for me?”

“Just that you help me put a little bit of cheer back into the lives of our friends. I mean, is that really so much to ask?”

“Well…”

Wes just grinned, knowing he’d won again.

_Later…_

“Come on Hobbie, you look great.”

“Yeah, right.” Hobbie glared at him through eyelashes covered in sparkles and make-up that Wes had apparently borrowed from some of the girls at one of the clubs they frequented. “And why is it that I’m in the skirt and you’re in the furry costume, anyway? I thought you were the one with the best legs.”

“I changed my mind. Now get out there and show them some spirit!” Wes shoved a set of handmade paper pompoms into Hobbie’s arms, and then shoved him through the door. He then listened for a moment to the sound of laughter, grinned, and then pulled the ewok mask over his face and followed after Hobbie.


	39. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hobbie is moping, and Wes isn't going to stand for it.

“All right, that’s it. We’re going out.”

Hobbie blinked at the rather sudden announcement from his best friend. “Out? Why?”

“You’re moping Hobbie, and you know that I can’t stand just sitting around and watching you mope.”

“I’m not moping. I’m…thinking.”

Wes lifted an eyebrow slightly. “And exactly what is it that your thinking about with that long look on your face?

“Just things that, need to be thought about...” Hobbie sighed when he saw the look that Wes was giving him. “All right, I've got nothing. But I always have this long look on my face, so I don’t see why you’re all of a sudden so interested in dragging me out.”

Wes got to his feet and grabbed his jacket, then handed one to Hobbie. “It’s high time that you got out and tried to make more friends, that’s all.”

“I have friends. Lots of friends.”

“I mean outside of work.”

“Oh.” Hobbie slipped his jacket on, frowning slightly. “But we won’t be here that long, Wes. We’ll get a new mission, and have to take off again, and who knows when or even if we’ll be back. So, it’s not like we’re going to be making any lifelong relationships here. So, what’s the point?”

“The point is, that we’ll have some new friends.”

“Who we’ve only known for a few days or so? How can you call someone like that a real friend?”

Wes looked at Hobbie and grinned crookedly as he dragged his friend out the door. “If I don’t want to kill them, they don’t want to kill me, and everybody goes home happier than when they left, then they’re a friend in my book. Now let’s go.”


	40. Look Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes meets a dumbass in a dark alley.

Wes cursed under his breath as he ducked behind the wall of the building next to the alleyway. A moment later, he heard the sound of the vibroblade that had whipped past him hitting the ground, and then there was silence. Listening for any sounds from the alley, he slowly reached over and pulled his blaster out of the holster. 

Eyes cold, he shifted his position slightly so he could just see into the narrow opening, waiting for some sound or movement that would give him a target. Wet warmth slowly flowed down his neck, but he ignored the wound, knowing it was nothing serious. Then he saw it, a darker shadow moving among the rest, and Wes fired just as another vibroblade bounced off the side of the building right in front of his face.

A moment later, he heard the heavy sound of a body hitting the ground, and he slowly moved into the alley with his blaster still at the ready. He paused when he saw the body of a human male sprawled out among the refuse, a black hole through his chest. Snorting slightly, Wes then continued over to the body and knelt down to check for life and any possible identification, although he already knew there wasn’t likely to be either. 

When he was done, and had called in to Wedge with what had happened, Wes got back to his feet. Then he nudged the body of the attempted assassin with one booted foot, annoyed at having to wait around for the Intelligence people to arrive and take care of things. “Obviously nobody ever told you that it’s never a good idea to bring a vibroblade to a blaster fight.”


	41. This Is Not a Rebellion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes confuses the new guy.

Wes watched with some amusement as the new recruit started to salute him, then remembered that he had been told not to do so, and hurriedly dropped his hand. “Um, it’s a pleasure to be a part of the rebellion, sir.”

Wes shook his head, tsking softly. “Now who told you this was a rebellion?”

The recruit looked confused. “It’s not a rebellion, sir?”

“Of course it’s not a rebellion! That’s just what the Empire wants you to think. It’s part of their whole propaganda thing to try and get everyone to side with them instead of us.”

“So, if it’s not a rebellion, then what is it?”

“It’s an alliance.”

“An alliance, sir?’

“Yep.”

“I’m afraid that I don’t really understand, sir.”

Wes barely refrained from grinning. “Okay so it’s like this, a rebellion is a group of people banding together to resist the established government, right?”

“Right…”

“Well, the Alliance is a group of _allies _banding together to resist the established government.”__

__The look on the kid’s face really was priceless. “What exactly is the difference, sir?”_ _

__“The difference is that the Empire calls us a rebellion, so we’re rebelling against that by calling ourselves an alliance.”_ _

__“…”_ _

__Wedge, who had been listening to the exchange, finally took pity on the recruit and walked over to offer his hand in greeting, even as he gave Wes a look that didn’t even come close to dimming his friend’s amused grin. “Welcome to the Rebel Alliance. As you can see, they let just about anyone in here.”_ _

__“Hey!”_ _

__Wedge ignored Janson, a skill he’d spent a great deal of time cultivating. “Come on, I’ll show you to your quarters.”_ _

__The kid nodded slowly, still looking slightly confused as Wedge led him away._ _

__Wes watched them walk away, and then smirked to himself. Not only did he manage to confuse the new guy, which was always fun in and of itself, but he’d also managed to occupy Wedge for some time as he tried to explain all the stuff to the recruit that Wes was supposed to have explained. What this meant, was free time to adhere various things in Wedge’s quarters down to what passed for furniture in this place._ _

__Another job well done._ _


	42. You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Wes really _doesn't_ mean for things to happen.

Tycho glared at Wes as he shook some of the water out of his hair, ignoring the pieces of waterlogged cake that flew along with it. “You did that on purpose, Janson, so don’t even bother denying it.”

Wes wiped a piece of brown mush off his cheek as he protested the accusation. “I swear, it was just an accident.”

Snorting, Tycho shook his head. “That’s what you always say.”

“Yeah, but this time I really mean it!”

“You always say that too.”

Wes sighed. “Tycho, why would I throw a piece of ryshcate at you. I mean it’s not like we get sweets all that often.”

“Because that would give you a good excuse for why you wouldn’t have done it on purpose. Besides, why else would you be sitting in a tree by the pool with a piece of cake, if not to bomb some unsuspecting swimmer?”

“Ummm...”

Tycho crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he watched Wes squirm. “I’m waiting.”

“Well, it was a nice, out of the way place to eat the last piece, before Wedge figured out who stole it from his quarters where he had hidden it after his lifeday celebration.”

Tycho paused for a moment and looked at him. “Are you serious?”

Wes nodded reluctantly.

Tycho just shook his head after a moment. “Guess I’ll leave it for him to deal with you then.”

Wes started to back away slowly. “You mean your going to tell him?”

Tycho quickly reached out and grabbed the retreating pilot, and gave him a cold smile. “No, you’re going to tell him.”

Wes sighed as Tycho started to drag him away, even as he made a mental note to make sure and tuck the goods more securely into his pocket before climbing trees in the future.


	43. What Are Friends For?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hobbie and Wes discuss that damn wanted poster.

Hobbie didn’t even bother to try and stop laughing as Wes made his way back to the edge of the pool. The look on Wes’ face was priceless, and that alone would have made stopping rather difficult anyway, even if Hobbie hadn’t just seen what had happened.

Sighing, Wes pulled himself out of the pool and sat next to his friend, giving him a slight glare. “You are not helping my ego here, Hobbie.”

Still chuckling, Hobbie wiped a tear from his eye. “Last time I checked, you hardly needed any help in the ego department. Besides, it’s not like she’s the first person to shoot you down, and you’ve always managed to recover.”

“Yeah but this was different. I mean to get shot down on my own merits is one thing, but to get shot down because she’s going on a date with my boss is another thing entirely. I mean it's not my fault that Wedge has that kriffin’ wanted poster that drives women wild!”

Hobbie smirked and patted Wes on the back. “Now Wes, I’m sure it wasn’t the poster at all. She would have turned you down even if she hadn’t been going on a date with Wedge.”

Wes snorted. “Gee thanks, Hobbie.”

“Hey, what are friends for if not to make each other feel better, right?”

Wes just smirked and then shifted slightly to give himself more leverage as he slipped a hand behind Hobbie’s back and shoved him into the pool. He waited until his friend came back to the surface sputtering, and then grinned. “You know, your right. I feel better already.”


	44. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hobbie convinces Wes that going after Horn is a bad idea.

Wes moved quietly along the corridor, pausing every now and then to listen for any doors opening or footsteps approaching, or at least that’s what he was supposed to be listening for on this little mission. Mostly what he was hearing though, was the quiet mutterings of doom coming from the man behind him. “Hobbie, would you stop that, I can’t hear myself plot with all your muttering.”

“Have I mentioned that I have a bad feeling about this?”

Wes snorted softly, peeking around the corner before answering in a low whisper. “I was pretty sure that was a given, actually.”

“Then why exactly are we doing this again? He’s a Jedi remember? He’s got those force powers going for him, not to mention the fact that he’s just a little bit trigger happy.”

“He couldn’t move a pebble with the powers he’s got, so stop worrying so much.”

“Maybe not, but he could make us think that we were Twi’lek dancers and have us perform in costume during the dinner rush.”

“That’s a good point, but we’ve gone too far to turn back now. We’ve already got everything in place, and then there’s the fact that our reputations are at stake here. We told everyone about this and there’s no way we’d be able to live it down if we turned tail and ran. “

“Better a living coward than a dead martyr.”

“Well even if we did just stop here and let Corran off, what are we going to do next?” Then suddenly Wes turned to look at his friend and he grinned impishly. “Unless of course we switched to plan B.”

“But I hate plan B, Wes.”

Wes just grabbed Hobbie’s arm and started pulling him back down the corridor. “Too late now, I’m all excited.”

Hobbie sighed, knowing there was no way he was going to get out of Plan B. Then suddenly a thought occurred to him, and he looked at his friend as he was dragged around the corner and through the door into the hanger bay. “What exactly was Plan B again?”


	45. Bad Jokes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people just can't appreciate a bad joke.

“Okay, so a Rodian, a Gamorrean, and a Devaronian walk into a cantina on Tatooine…” 

A chorus of groans went up from the rest of the pilots who had squeezed into the booth before Wes had even finished the opening sentence. 

Wes blinked at them, not having expected that reaction until he’d at least gotten to the punchline. “What? It’s a great joke!”

Face just shook his head. “That’s what you said about the last one. And the one before that, and the one before that and, well you get the idea.”

“Well they were great jokes too.”

“Yeah, great jokes that all seem to start with a bunch of people walking into a cantina. I mean really, can’t you come up with something a little more original?”

Wes thought about it for a moment, then slowly grinned and nodded. “Okay, so a Rodian, a Gamorrean, and a Devaronian walked through a dark tunnel and into an underground cantina on Tattooine…” 

Ton leaned over slightly and whispered to Face, “do you think anyone would notice if we just shot him?”

"I’m actually pretty sure they would probably all cheer, declare us to be heroes, and then help us hide the body."

"Excellent point. On the count of three then?"

Face nodded as he set his blaster to stun. "One, two…”


	46. Road Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge appreciates a little peace and quiet.

It was one of those moments when Wedge Antilles really enjoyed the quiet solitude that came with hyperspace travel. No company but his own thoughts and the occasional beeps and whistles of Gate, his R5 unit. No pilots asking him questions that he couldn’t always give them the answers too. No superiors telling him how to do his job or giving him impossible assignments to complete. There was just himself, his starship, and the field of elongated stars outside. 

Then, as they reached the next jump point on route to their final destination, Wedge didn’t even get the chance to draw a breath before a familiar voice crackled over the comlink. “Are we there yet?”

“No, Janson, we’re not there yet.”

“Well, can you at least tell me where we're going?”

“I can’t tell you that right now. It’s on a need to know basis, and you don’t need to know.”

“But, I’m bored!”

“Play sabacc with your droid like you usually do.”

“He keeps cheating.”

“He’s a droid, they don’t cheat.”

“Well this one does. I think Hobbie had one of the techs reprogram him with a new code just so he could cheat.”

“I did not!”

“Did too.”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

Wedge cleared his throat. “We’re coming around on our new heading. Get ready to jump, people.”

“But I’m still bored! How much longer before we get there?”

“Soon. Five seconds to mark.”

“But Wedge, I have to go to the…”

Wedge breathed a sigh of relief as the countdown finished and the flight made the jump back into hyperspace. 

And back into the blessed silence.


	47. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes convinces Hobbie that it's important to try new things.

“Just try it, Hobbie. It’s not like I would try and poison you or anything.”

Hobbie eyed the shotglass that Wes had set in front of him. Somehow the colorful layers of yellow, orange, red, and dark blue seemed somehow menacing, although that likely had to do with the fact that it had been Wes who had put the concoction together. “What is it, exactly?”

“It’s called a Taanabian Sunrise.”

“Uh huh. And is it a traditional drink on your planet, or is this just something you made up as you went along?”

“I didn’t make it up, I promise. It’s something that’s served in all the cantina’s at home…”

Hobbie gave the glass one last look before he lifted it to his lips and then quickly tossed it back. 

Which of course was when Wes finished his answer, “…except for the blue stuff. I added that myself.”

Just then, the alcohol in the drink hit Hobbie’s stomach, and then blossomed into a raging inferno that slowly died down into a somewhat manageable heat. The experience left him trying to get his body to remember that breathing was an important part of everyday life, and that gasping and sputtering generally didn’t qualify. 

Wes patted his friend on the back, his eyes dancing with amusement. “See, it warmed you right up, just like I promised.”

Hobbie had several choice phrases in mind for that, but no breath as of yet to utter them. However, in his mind he was already coming up with a plan to make his friend pay.


	48. A Memorable Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never play sabacc with Solo.

Wes carefully flexed his arm, and then slowly rotated his shoulder to make sure that everything was moving like it should after the dislocation. He counted himself as lucky really, in that it had only been a dislocation. Something whispering in the back of his mind told him that things could have been a lot worse.

“How’s it going? Everything all nice and mended?”

Wes looked up at the voice, and gave Wedge a slightly sheepish grin. “Nothing a few hours in the dip couldn’t cure. They're working on my release authorization now.”

“Good.” Wedge then sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Wes for a moment before shaking his head in exasperation. “You know, I understand that you were drunk, what with the Midwinter Celebration and all. But you still should have realized that what you were doing was completely insane, or at least not something you would have considered had you been sober.”

Wes scrubbed his ‘good’ hand through his hair before answering. “To be honest, I don’t even really remember much about what happened. I mean, I recall the party and the game of sabacc that started a few hours into the evening, but after that it gets kind of blurry."

Wedge just sighed. “Wes, there was a reason I told you not to start that game with Solo. You were already drunk before it started, and Han was going to take advantage of that fact. And once you ran out of creds, well, things just went from bad to worse.”

Wes frowned slightly as he rubbed his arm, although the hint of remembered pain was only in his mind as bits and pieces of the evening finally started to come back to him. “Yeah, I know. Still though, he should have known better than to dare me to kiss his Wookiee when I was that drunk.”


	49. Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Resolutions are made to be broken.

"You can’t be serious."

Wes just looked at Hobbie for a long moment, and then lifted an eyebrow slightly. “Why not?”

Hobbie snorted as he paused to pick up his glass of lum. “Because what you’re contemplating is completely impossible. There’s no way you could possibly manage to pull it off.”

“Hey, we just drank in a new year, and you just never know what a guy can do once he sets his mind to it and then sticks to his blasters.”

“Pick something else, Wes. Something that you might have some small chance of actually keeping as the year goes on.”

“No, I like this one, and I don’t see why it’s so hard to believe anyway.”

Hobbie smirked slightly and pointed to a pretty girl sitting at the bar. “Okay then, if you’re so sure, then go over there and talk to her.”

Looking in the direction his friend had pointed, Wes nodded and got to his feet. “You’ll see, Hobbs, I’ll start the year off with a bang and then you’ll have to buy the next round.”

“Uh huh.” Hobbie then watched as Wes walked over and started talking to the young lady. “Five, four, three, two…”

**SMACK.**

A few moments later, Wes walked over rubbing his cheek. “Don’t. Say. Anything.”

“Who me? I wouldn’t dream of saying anything about how you couldn’t even go one night keeping your resolution, or about how you now owe me a drink”

Wes snorted as he sat back down. “Gee, thanks.”

“What are friends for, Wes.”

There was a comfortable silence between the two of them for a few moments before Wes spoke again. “They're made to be broken though, right? I mean nobody actually makes one of those things and expects to keep it a whole year.”

“Most probably make it past the first day, though.”

Wes waved the comment off, sloshing the lum in his hand over the rim and down his hand. “Yeah, yeah, but still, people never expect to actually keep them.”

Hobbie shrugged. “Maybe. Tell you what, why don’t you just pick something you’d like to do this year, instead of something you want to keep from doing. That way you have a better shot at actually making it work.”

“You know, that’s a good idea. For instance, I could resolve to get out of the military and try for a real life. You know, without all the blasters and death and stuff.” 

Hobbie just looked at him.

“Yeah, I know it’s not going to happen, but it’s still a nice thought.” There was another long pause as the two ordered another round, then Wes looked at Hobbie and grinned. “So, how about we just resolve not to make any more resolutions?”

Hobbie smiled slightly, and then lifted his glass to Wes’ in a toast. “Now that’s something I think we can both handle.”


	50. Alone: Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A friend visits Wes in the medbay after he's let out of the bacta tank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continues Janson's viewpoint after Distna.

The morning after his removal from the bacta tank, Wes was lying on a bed in the medical bay, staring up at the ceiling. He heard someone slowly walking over towards him, but he didn’t bother looking to see who it was like he normally would have in this situation. It didn’t really matter much this time, because everyone else was dead anyway. 

A part of him screamed that he should be reacting to that image, that he owed his friends and comrades that much at the very least. However, that thought was only there a moment before it slipped back into the darkness of his mind, leaving little more than that one ripple to mark it’s passing. Then, the numbness returned to fill the void where it had been, which Wes preferred at this point anyway.

He felt a small hand slip into his, squeezing lightly as though to get his attention, but he didn’t look at the woman who was now seated beside him. Wes knew that if he looked at Mirax and allowed himself to see the grief that was sure to be in her eyes over the loss of her husband, that he would break, and breaking was something he wasn’t ready to do just yet. 

Mirax’ voice was low, barely carrying to him, when she finally spoke. “I heard they’ve put you on suicide watch.”

Wes own voice sounded distant, without any emotion behind it at all, and he almost didn’t recognize himself. “Apparently they didn’t like the answers to the questions they got when they pulled me out. They seem to think that my wanting to get back out there and do my job means that I have a death wish.”

“Doesn’t it?”

He considered the question for a moment before answering, figuring that she at least deserved the truth. “Maybe.”

There was a long silence before Mirax spoke again. “Wes, do you remember anything?”

A shiver ran through his body, although his expression and voice didn’t change at all. “I remember seeing Khe-Jeen get hit, but after that I was too busy trying to keep up with the enemy to see what all was happening to the rest of the squadron. Then the concussion missile slammed into me, and after that, all I remember is the cold.” He didn’t tell her that the cold was still there, wrapped around his chest and squeezing his heart to the point that it was hard to remember to breathe. Wes knew that he didn’t have to tell her, because she probably felt the cold just as much as he did.

“There was so little left. I keep thinking that maybe…

Wes felt her hand tremble as her voice trailed off, and he finally looked at her. He thought it strange that the grief etched into her face, along with that faint hint of hope, didn’t actually cause him to break like he had thought it would just a few moments before. The cold had simply gone too deep to allow that to happen, or so it seemed. 

Yet despite the cold, he couldn’t tell her that one of the last things that he did remember seeing before the darkness overtook him, was one of Corran’s engines exploding. He simply couldn’t be the one to rip away that last shred of hope that her husband might still be out there somewhere. So he simply squeezed her hand slightly, and offered her the ghost of a smile, watching her almost sag with relief at the fact that he had shown something other than the numbness that the medical techs had reported. 

Mirax smiled slightly as well, rubbing her fingers against the back of his hand for a moment before releasing it, and then getting to her feet. “I should let you get some rest. I’ll come back in the morning.”

Wes nodded, keeping that faint smile in place until Mirax was out of sight. Once he was sure she was gone, he let it fade away as he shifted his gaze back to the ceiling. Given enough time, he knew he could get them to let him out of here, and then put him back into a fighter. Then, maybe he could finally find a way to get the cold to melt again.


	51. Rough Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after is never fun.

Wes made his way slowly into the galley area, and then went straight for the caf without so much as stopping to see what was being served for breakfast. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be giving anything that even resembled food an extra wide berth, making one of those slightly nauseated faces if anyone got too close with their trays. Once he finally did make it through to the caf line, he pulled something out of his jacket that was more like a bowl than one of the standard issue cups, then filled the thing almost to the brim before walking over to join Hobbie at one of the tables.

“So, I couldn’t help but notice that you got in rather late last night.” There was a slight pause. “Well, actually it was rather early this morning, but you get the idea.”

Wes just grunted. His hands now wrapped around the caf like it was a lifeline.

“Rough night?”

That earned Hobbie another grunt, and a slight glare over the rim of the bowl/cup of caf for even bothering with such an obvious question. 

Hobbie glanced over Wes’ shoulder, and then his face took on that mournful look that was his trademark. “Well, it looks like it’s about to get a little rougher.”

Wes’ eyebrows scrunched slightly in a confused look before he felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder. Then he closed his eyes for a moment; not needing to look over his shoulder to know who it was that was standing there.

“Janson, my office, now.”

Wes sighed at the tone of Wedge’s voice as he slowly got to his feet, the caf still in his hands. As he turned to follow his commanding officer out of the galley, he couldn’t help but wish that he actually remembered whatever it was that he had done last night that was about to get him in trouble again.


	52. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hobbie and Wes keep an eye on some stormtroopers while on Endor.

Wes sat quietly, peering across the clearing at the forest beyond, and the white shapes that he could just barely make out through the trees. He slipped on the macrobinoculars, bringing things into focus, and grunted slightly as a group of stormtroopers came into view. “I can see at least a dozen, but the trees could be hiding more of them. We should probably call it in and get some backup.”

Hobbie pulled out his communicator and relayed the information, then sneezed quietly into his hand several times.

Wes adjusted the macrobinoculars up a bit so he could look at his friend, one eyebrow lifted inquisitively. “Problems?”

Sniffling slightly, Hobbie shook his head. “Something is messing with my sinuses is all.” He glanced around and pointed out a small cluster of tiny white flowers with feathery looking petals that had been more or less crushed under Wes’ foot. “Maybe I’m allergic to those things or something.”

Shaking his head slightly in response, Wes went back to looking at the stormtroopers across the way, and trying to get a somewhat accurate count now that they were moving around. “Don’t you have Phgentermine or something else that you can take?”

“Isn’t that the diet drug those Twi’lek dancers were telling us about last week?” Hobbie paused, frowning slightly. “You aren’t trying to tell me something, are you?”

“Who me? I would never do such a...” Wes growled suddenly and pulled off the binoculars. “Damn things aren’t working right again. I swear they need to make the interface more intuitive or something.”

Hobbie snorted softly. “People are intuitive, Wes, not machines.”

“Yeah well, they need to fix them, that’s all I’m saying.” He turned them over and then shook his head. “Quantex Fund. Now why am I not surprised?”

A new voice sounded just behind them, pitched low so it wouldn’t carry. “Surprised about what?”

Hobbie let out a short scream that he quickly muffled in his hand so as not to alert the enemy, and then glared at Tycho and Wedge, who had emerged from the trees behind them. “Don’t _do_ that,” he hissed. “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

Wes was stifling his laughter as he handed Wedge the binoculars. 

Wedge just gave them both a look that basically told them they had better fly right or there would be hell to pay later. 

Hobbie looked apologetic, while Wes looked anything but, and both went about getting their gear ready for the coming assault against the stormtroopers. After a few moments, Wes leaned in and whispered to Hobbie. “Are you aware that when you have a screaming fit, you sound like a little girl?”

However, before Hobbie could do more than glare at his friend, the signal was given for them to move out. Cursing quietly under his breath as he followed Tycho, Hobbie had to simply content himself with that single glare, and the plotting of future revenge.


	53. Commendations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One day Wedge would learn to keep his mouth shut around Wes.

“So they gave you another one, huh?”

Wes looked up, giving Wedge a slight grin as he sat in the chair, turning the small badge over and over in his fingers. “Yeah, although I keep telling them that they need to stop. I don’t have any more room on my dress uniform.”

Wedge chuckled as he leaned back in his own chair, as much as the scrounged flight seat would allow anyway. “Well, you could always stop with the heroics, and then you wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Snorting softly, Wes slipped the commendation for bravery into his pocket. “Well I would if I knew I was being heroic when it was actually happening. All this time I thought I was just doing my job and trying to keep everyone alive.”

“Well, I suppose since we can’t have you not doing your job, then you’ll just have to keep accepting the awards that come along with it.”

Wes nodded and glanced at Wedge. “What do you do with all of yours, anyway?”

Wedge cleared his throat and popped open one of the drawers in his makeshift desk. Wes leaned over and saw that it was full of similar commendations and just started to laugh.

“Oh be quiet. It’s better than what Face suggested for you.”

“And what might that be?”

“Building a fort.”

Wes thought about it for a moment, and then grinned. “You know, that’s not a half bad idea.”

“Wes…”

He was already on his feet though, talking to himself as he headed out the door. “I could find some kind of resin to encase them in, making them into little blocks, and then gluing them all together. Just need to find someplace…”

Wedge sighed as the voice became more distant and then disappeared completely. One day, he really would learn not to open his mouth where the other man was concerned.


	54. Good Luck Charms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes thinks some good luck rituals should be abolished.

"Hey, Hobbie, have you talked to that new guy yet?"

“Just in passing, why?”

“Well you know how a lot of the guys have good luck charms, or rituals, or something specific that they have to do before going out on a mission?”

“Yeah.”

“Apparently this guy thinks that in order to come back alive, he has to stay a virgin.”

“You mean he’s never…”

“Nope.”

“How old is he?”

“A few years older than me.”

“Huh.”

“You know what this means, don’t you?”

“I’m afraid to ask.”

“Well that’s why I’m just going to tell you. Then you don’t have to ask. What it means is that we’re going to have to do something about this poor guy and his misguided actions. Or you know, his lack of action.”

“Wes, if he thinks it’s keeping him alive, don’t you think we’d better just leave him alone?”

“Hobbie, would you want to die a virgin?”

“Ummm…”

“…”

“What?”

“You aren’t, are you?”

“NO!”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m not!”

“Whatever you say, Hobbes.”

“Your going to set me up now too, aren’t you?”

“Yep. I figure now I can use you to show him that not being a virgin won’t get him killed, and then he can have some fun. Then we’ll get him one of those good luck charms or something to make him feel better when he goes on a mission.”

“You do realize that I hate you, right?”

“Yeah, but you’ll love me again in the morning.”

“How do you know?”

“You always do.”


	55. Instructors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are some duties that Wes is just not cut out for when it comes to instructing new pilots.

Wes pulled out his comlink and glanced at the chronometer for what had to have been the tenth time in the past hour, and then sighed heavily. It had only progressed about five minutes since the last time he had looked, and he could have sworn that at least half an hour had passed. He almost wondered if someone was resetting the damn thing back just to mess with him, expect that would have been something he would have done himself, so chances are nobody else had thought of it. Granted, there were a couple of sneaky ones in this group, but Wes still doubted that was the case, and so he sighed heavily again.

Right about that time he felt a discreet jab in his side and he glanced at Hobbie, who was frowning at him. His friend hissed under his breath, so as not to distract the others. "Would you knock it off, Wes. You're setting a bad example."

"I can't help it. This has got to be the slowest two hours I've ever experienced. I'm bored to tears here."

"Well do something constructive, like looking over those numbers from the last simulator run."

"I already did, and they haven't changed any. Why is it that time goes so slow when your waiting for something anyway?"

"Probably just to irritate me when you can't sit still."

Wes barely managed to keep from sticking his tongue out at Hobbie, and instead looked at the chronometer again. Just five more minutes, and this would all be over. 

"Wes, you're bouncing."

"Am I?"

"Yes, now stop it before I tie you down to the chair."

"Kinky."

Hobbie rolled his eyes, and went back to looking over the reports they had to submit regarding the readiness of the squadron.

For his part, Wes stopped bouncing, and started to tap his fingers against the makeshift desk. Hobbie simply ignored him this time though, and that made it less fun, so he went back to looking at the chronometer.

"Almost there..."

About a minute later, a buzzer went off and Wes stood. "Okay everyone, turn in your datapads and you are released for the rest of the day. We'll see you at the same time tomorrow to go over the results."

He waited for the room to clear out, and turned to grin at Hobbie. "Okay, the exam is over, can we go out now?"

"Why is it that they put you in charge of training squadrons again?"

Wes shrugged. "Beats me. So, what do you say?"

Hobbie looked at the pile of datapads that they needed to go over, and then back at Wes. He knew there was no way he could get his friend to settle down long enough to go over the results unless they got out of here for a while. "Okay, but only for a couple hours. Then we need to come back here and take care of these exams. Agreed?"

Wes nodded, happy to agree to anything that would get him out of this room for a while. "Sure, whatever you say."

Hobbie, knowing that Wes would ignore the time completely, set the alarm on his friend's chronometer so they would be sure to make it back on time.

What he didn't know, was that Wes 'accidentally' shut the alarm off when they reached the club, because he knew that two hours in play time should always equal twice that in real time. 

That was the last time Hobbie forgot his comlink in his quarters.


	56. Everyone Has Their Limits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things even Wes won't touch.

“I don’t know what you’re complaining about, Hobbes. It adds a bit of character if you ask me.”

“Well I didn’t ask you, did I? I can’t even get a date with this thing!”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean the little boy comment like that, and besides, you could do better than her anyway.”

“You think so?” 

“Absolutely. Take Horn’s partner for instance. Now she’s someone worth asking on a date.”

“She’s Corsec.”

“So?”

“So she’d never go for someone like me. I mean Corsec people are stiffer than Tycho.”

“…”

“What?”

“Oh no, even I won’t touch that one.”


	57. Conspiracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge makes Wes' point.

“The next thing I knew, people were ducking for cover, and I had to sacrifice myself to keep anyone else from getting hit with a pastry.”

“So, basically what your telling me, is that the universe is conspiring against you.”

“Absolutely. There’s just no other explanation.”

“Uh huh.”

“It’s true! I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

"Right.”

“It was just one of those things where I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Happens a lot with you, I’ve noticed.”

“Wedge, I swear, it wasn’t my fault!”

“Wes, it’s never your fault.”

“That’s my point exactly.”


	58. Midwinter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes decides to never again let Face make the plans.

It was the day before Midwinter when Wes finally got an idea for the perfect gift for Wedge. Except, it wasn’t really his idea at all. Instead, Face had been the one to come up with the plan. That in itself should have been enough to warn Wes that it would not end well, but at this point he was running out of options.

"You know, I still have some time, I could find something else."

"Come on, Wes. What could you get him that could possibly top this?"

"How about Iella wearing the skimpy little outfit from that club we went to last week."

"That won’t get you maimed or killed outright."

"Hey, it’s no fun if there’s not some danger involved."

Face just snorted. "Stop talking already and hold still."

Wes tried to do as he was told, but not before sticking his tongue out at the other pilot.

"Can you get any more juvenile?"

"Is that a request?"

Rolling his eyes, Face finished with what he was doing then stood. "All right. Now I’m going to put the finishing touch on, and you are going to shut up."

Wes sighed. "He better appreciate this."

"Oh believe me, he will definitely appreciate it. He may even break down in tears.” Face grinned as he slapped the ‘Do Not Open Until Midwinter’ sticker over Wes’ mouth. “Of course, they’ll probably be tears of laughter, but that’s what you were going for, right?"

Wes just glared at Face from his prison of blue cloth and green ribbons. He just hoped that Wedge didn’t let him stew too long before unwrapping him. The sequins on that skimpy outfit did chafe a bit after all.


	59. Smell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes has a date, and Hobbie helps him get ready.

As Hobbie walked into the quarters he shared with Janson, his nose was assaulted with something he couldn’t even begin to name. If forced, he would probably compare the smell to a herd of bantha in heat. "What in the name of the Force is that stench?"

Poking his head out of the ‘fresher, Wes lifted an eyebrow. "It’s my new cologne. Too strong?"

Hobbie’s eyes had started to water from the fumes, and he wiped at them absently with the back of his hand. "Not if you planning on dating a nerf."

"Actually, I have a date with a Chagrian, not that it’s any of your business."

Hobbie shook his head, although he may have looked faintly amused. "Wes, they lack a sense of taste, not a sense of smell."

"Very funny." Although Wes may have been looking a bit more worried. "Is it really that bad?"

"Can’t you smell it?"

Wes shook his head. "Actually, not really. See I kind of got into some trouble this morning over that incident at the cantina last night, and I’ve been on clean up duty all day. All I can smell is the residual scent of the cleaning solvent I was using."

"Well I suppose that will teach you to get into a fight on base, won’t it?"

Sounding slightly indignant, Wes went back into the bathroom to finish getting ready. "Hey, how was I supposed to know that his blood was going to be that viscous?"

"You should just be happy he didn’t press charges."

"Of course he didn’t. He started it!"

Snorting, Hobbie sat down on the edge of his bunk in order to remove his boots. "That’s what you always say."

Walking back out into the room, Wes grabbed his jacket and barely refrained from sticking his tongue out at his wingman. "That’s because it’s true."

Hobbie shrugged and set his boots neatly at the foot of his bunk. "If you say so."

This time, Wes did stick his tongue out at his friend as he slapped the panel on the wall to open the door. 

"Hey Wes?"

Glancing over his shoulder at Hobbie, Wes quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah."

"You still stink."

Wes opened his mouth to say something, then slowly closed it again as he muttered to himself and headed back into the ‘fresher.

A rare smile curled one corner of Hobbie’s mouth as he laid back on his bunk, satisfied with his little victory.


	60. A Piece of Ryshcate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge and Wes brief the Wraiths on a mission. What could possibly go wrong?

There was something about the look on Wedge’s face that told Wes that now was not the time for his usual witty remarks and less than mature behavior. A lot of people may not have noticed anything different when they looked at the man sitting behind the makeshift desk, but Wes had worked with him long enough to see the little signs that meant something was wrong. It was in the way that Wedge’s jaw was set, and a certain light in his eyes that was only there when there was trouble of some kind. Now was obviously the time for the soldier to take control and put the prankster to rest, at least for the time being. "You sent for me?"

Wedge nodded and sat back in his chair a bit. "I just received word that we need to leave here within the next hour for a mission to the Corulus System. There have been reports of a Star Destroyer in the area, and they want confirmation. We’re the closest ones available to check it out."

Sighing, Wes nodded slightly. "I’ll alert the squadron and have them meet us down in the hanger for a quick briefing before the pre-flight check. Is there any indication of which Destroyer it might be?" Not that it really mattered all that much when it came to a Star Destroyer, but Wes tended to prefer to put a name to the shape.

Wedge shook his head as he got to his feet and came out from behind the desk. "I’ve already alerted everyone and they should be there when we arrive. As for the ship, all we know at this point is that it’s not one of ours."

"Which is more than enough." Wes fell easily into step with Wedge as they left the office and made their way towards the hanger. "So this is just an information gathering mission then?"

"If everything goes according to the mission parameters."

Wes snorted a bit in laughter, although there wasn’t much in the way of amusement in the sound. "When was the last time that happened, especially with this bunch?"

Lifting an eyebrow slightly, Wedge turned to look at his second-in-command. "As I recall, you helped me pick out this bunch."

"Now you’re just talking technicalities. All I did was get the people that fell within the parameters you gave me into your office. You’re the one that actually picked them out."

Wedge glanced at him as they walked into the hanger. "With your input."

"Which you promptly ignored."

A hint of amusement colored Wedge’s voice as he responded. "I figured you would be used to that sort of thing by now."

Before Wes had time for any kind of a decent comeback, they were standing in front of the squadron, all of who were looking at them expectantly. Wes made a mental note to get back at Wedge later as the Commander briefed the others on their mission.

Tyria lifted an eyebrow as Wedge finished speaking. "So we’re just going to check it out and report back? That’s it? That should be a piece of ryshcate compared to some of our other missions."

Face shook his head a bit as he glanced over at her. "Those have probably been the last words of more people than I want to think about, Tyria. Nothing is ever as easy as it seems, and if it is, then something is probably very wrong."

Wedge nodded as he looked over the group. "That’s exactly right, which is why we will be going in as though this were any other combat mission. So everyone go check out your fighters from top to bottom and make sure they’re in good working condition. We don’t want anything going wrong because someone didn’t take this seriously."

As the squadron broke up to take care of the pre-flight check, Wes headed over to his own fighter. He had just bent over to take a look at the s-foils when he felt someone smack his backside. Blinking, he stood up and looked around only to see Shalla walking away. Amused, Wes called out to her. "We’re supposed to be taking this seriously, Nelprin."

Shalla glanced over her shoulder at him and winked. "Who said I wasn’t serious?" She then disappeared behind his fighter on the way to her own, leaving him with just the sound of her smoky laughter.

Clearing his throat, Wes turned back to what he was doing and tried not to think about what that little exchange meant, at least until after they were finished with the mission. It would not be the best of idea’s to be going into something like this with Shalla on his mind rather than the possibility of an attack. Things like that could get a guy killed after all.

A few minutes later, after completing his circuit of the outside of his X-wing, Wes climbed up to the cockpit to complete his check. As he prepared to climb in he suddenly stopped as he realized that there was something sitting in his seat, something that looked suspiciously like an Ewok. Only this particular Ewok appeared to be somewhat flat, brown, and crumbly.

"What in the…" Reaching down, Wes lightly touched it with one gloved hand and then brought the glove to his nose. It smelled like Corellian whiskey. He then touched it to his tongue, and sure enough, it tasted like Corellian whiskey. Well, Corellian whiskey and his glove, but that was beside the point. It was about that time that he heard the rather distinct sound of Tyria giggling and looked down to see the squadron gathered at the base of the ladder.

"Happy birthday, Wes!"

Wes just stood there for a moment, his eyes traveling over the amused faces looking up at him until finally they came to rest on Wedge. "This was your idea, wasn’t it?"

Wedge shook his head and pointed at Face. "Actually it was his, but I did help a little bit."

"He came up with the actual ‘mission’ and supplied the whiskey for the ryshcate." Face added, still amused by the look on Wes’ face. "He also recorded everything for posterity’s sake."

Wes snorted slightly, even as he reached into the cockpit again to pick up the Ewok shaped treat, and then carefully climbed back down the ladder. "Oh sure he did, just like that time with Kettch, right? I know that never actually happened, because Hobbie’s been after me to get a copy to him ever since. If you had actually taken one then he would have had it already."

Wedge cleared his throat as Wes hit the durocrete, then pointed to the holocam that was hovering nearby. "I was actually saving that one for a special occasion, and I thought that along with this one, it should make a nice midwinter gift for the Rogues."

"Sithspit."

Grinning, Shalla reached out and plucked a small piece of the ryshcate from Wes’ hands, then placed it to his lips. "Look on the bright side, flyboy. At least you’re wearing clothes this time."

Something in her eyes as he ate the treat from her fingertips told Wes that she could arrange for that to change if he wanted. He made a mental note to see about visiting her later on, but focused his attention on Wedge for the moment. "I don’t suppose we could come to a compromise of some sort? Maybe just give them this one and I’ll owe you a favor?"

"Do you have any idea how many favors you owe me, Wes? I have a list you know. I keep it in my desk."

"A big favor?"

Wedge smiled and put an arm around Wes’s shoulder. "Tell you what, why don’t we talk about it after the party, while you're busy helping Squeaky go over the list of supplies we need for the squadron."

Wes groaned as they started to head out of the hanger. "You are a cruel, cruel man, Antilles."

"I prefer to think of myself as a man with leverage."

"Same thing."

Wedge just laughed, snagging a piece of ryshcate and popping it in his mouth as the hanger doors closed behind them.


	61. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hobbie helps Wes out of a jam. Or not.

"Whatever happens, remember that I’m not here and you haven’t seen me all day."

Hobbie lifted an eyebrow slightly as Wes practically skidded into their quarters and made straight for the 'fresher. "Do I even want to know what you did this time?"

"Nope."

"Fair enough." Watching as his friend disappeared into the other room, Hobbie shook his head and started the countdown. "Three…Two…One…"

Sure enough, there was now someone pounding on the door. "Janson! I know you’re in there. Don’t make me come in after you or you are going to be one very sorry individual."

Hobbie wondered what Wes could have possibly done to piss off Mirax as he got up to open the door. Leaning against the doorframe, Hobbie pointed in the direction of the 'fresher. "He’s not here. I haven’t seen him all day." 

Mirax snorted as she walked in and made straight for Wes’ hiding place. "There you are, you no good, son of a bantha!"

"Mirax, this is just a big misunderstanding. I swear I have no idea…"

"Save it, Janson. I don’t want to hear your excuses." A moment later, the fiery smuggler dragged Wes out by his ear and made for the door, which Hobbie had helpfully kept open for them. "What I want is for you to clean the _Pulsar Skate_ until she sparkles, and if I ever see you anywhere near my ship again I’m going to make you regret that you haven’t taken the time to have kids yet."

Wes somehow managed to glare at Hobbie as they passed, despite the rather firm grip on his ear. "Traitor."

"Maybe so, but the next time you want me to keep your secrets you should remember to stay out of my stash of Whyren’s." Then before Wes could say anything else, Hobbie closed the door and left him to his fate.


	62. A Dramatic Entrance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes prepares for the farewell party on Adumar, and Hobbie is rather skeptical about his accessory choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during 'Starfighters of Adumar"

Hobbie looked at Wes as he came out of the fresher and just shook his head as he took in what his friend was wearing to the farewell party. "You do realize that you’re violating regulations by wearing that thing, right?"

Wes fiddled with the clasp on the cloak, making sure that it was hanging in just such a way as to make the flatscreen panels easily viewable, and yet still leaving his blastsword within easy reach. "I’ve got my dress uniform on."

Sighing softly, Hobbie glanced at the cloak again and was almost afraid to see what Janson was planning on actually showing on those panels, especially given his friend’s flair for the dramatic. "I can see that, but you aren’t supposed to have anything else on over the top of it. They like the whole galaxy to see how ugly these uniforms really are, remember?"

While taking a moment to double check his image in the mirror, Wes easily waved the comment aside. "Wedge will let me get away with it because he loves me." Apparently deciding that everything looked satisfactory, he then turned to look at Hobbie with a roguish grin. "Besides, he hates these uniforms as much as we do."

Hobbie wasn’t so sure about the loving part, but the rest was true enough. "At least tell me that whatever you’re going to have playing on there is going to be tasteful. That way he can’t get too annoyed with me for not trying harder to stop you."

"Of course it’s tasteful, Hobbie. I can’t imagine why you would think it might be otherwise." Wes then proceeded to pat his friend on the shoulder as he passed on his way out of the room.

Hobbie heard a soft clicking noise as the cloak was activated, and turned just in time to see what Wes had programmed into the device. A line of Jansons, arms linked together, doing high kicks like a group of chorus girls. "I’m doomed," Hobbie groaned as he followed his friend, letting the door slide shut behind them.


	63. Explanations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge walks in on Wes playing with a new toy.

Wedge walked into what passed for Wes’ office, a datapad with the reports from the last simulator runs in his hand. “Wes, we need to talk about the…” he trailed off as he looked up and saw the state of the room. Large gray clumps of some odd foreign substance he couldn’t recall ever having seen before was sticking to the walls and various pieces of furniture. Turning his attention to the man sitting behind the makeshift desk across the room, Wedge lifted an eyebrow slightly. "Would you care to explain this?"

Wes quickly dropped a smaller clump onto his desk, where it landed with a wet plop next to a rather large container of water. He didn’t even bother with trying for an innocent look, since it was obviously far too late for that sort of thing. “Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

Sighing a bit, Wes reached up to scratch the back of his neck as he sat up a bit straighter in his chair. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. You want the long story or would the shortened version work this time?”

Wedge glanced at the chronometer on Wes’ desk for a moment before returning his attention to his second-in-command. It was times like these that he really wished that he had taken Hobbie instead. “I’ve got a meeting with Admiral Ackbar, so give me the short version. For now.”

“You remember when we took all the useful stuff from that pirate base, Blood Nest?” Wes asked, although he already knew the answer so he just kept right on going rather than waiting for a response. “Well they had a couple of containers of actual paper that a smuggler they boarded had gotten off some backwater planet somewhere. Seems that there’s actually credits to be made with the stuff in some places, since it’s not made anymore in most of the galaxy.”

Wedge just looked at him for a moment. “Paper?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s worth actual credits?” Not that it was that hard to believe really, given that it was such a scarce commodity. People who had a lot of credits tended to spend it on rather odd things after all.

Wes nodded, shifting slightly in his seat. “That’s what the pirate said when we were taking him through all the inventory.”

“And you’re doing what with it, exactly?”

“Well, you see I’d heard some stories about this stuff when I was a kid. Rumors about a guy who knew a guy that had some, and that if you got it wet then it would actually stick to things. So, I figured that I’d see if it was true or not.” Wes flashed his boyish grin. “You know, research.”

“So basically what you’re telling me is that you took some of this stuff without authorization so that you could play with it?”

“Well, yeah, but…” Wes happened to glance up right about then and his eyes widened just a bit. “Ummm, Wedge?”

“What is it now,” Wedge asked as he started to follow the direction of Wes’ gaze.

**PLOP.**

“Nevermind.”


	64. Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge visits Wes in the medbay, and Wes opens his mouth one too many times.

The first thing Wes noticed when he started to come around was the taste of bacta in his mouth. That was never a good thing. 

First of all, it left an aftertaste hanging around in his mouth for days that even the strongest alcohol he could find couldn’t entirely burn away. Wes knew this because he’d had all kinds of opportunities to test out various concoctions over the years. Some of them he’d even made up himself. They could peel the paint off his X-wing, but they couldn’t get rid of that taste. 

Secondly, it meant that things obviously hadn’t gone according to plan. Which, shouldn’t have really surprise him all that much considering how often things didn’t work out quite like expected. However, the fact that he was lying here in the medical bay meant that it must have gone a little bit worse than usual. Either that, or he’d screwed something up. At the moment, he couldn’t remember which it happened to be. 

Stupid head wounds.

The second thing he noticed was that he couldn’t open his eyes. Frowning slightly, he started to reach up and see what was going on when a hand stopped him. 

“They’re covered in bandages. The techs said to leave them on for another hour or two.” 

Wes thought he hears just a hint of relief in Wedge’s voice. “That bad, huh?”

“Bad enough that they’ve been worried about the possibility of blindness. They weren’t sure if they had gotten you into the bacta in time or not.”

The thought of being blind was not a good one. In fact, it was one of those cases where if Wes had the choice between being blind and being dead, he probably would have picked the latter of the two. After all, what good was he if he couldn’t fly or shoot? “And now?”

“Now they think you’ll make a full recovery, but they still want to keep those bacta soaked bandages in place a little while longer, just to be on the safe side.”

Too close for comfort, Wes thought as he nodded slightly. “No touchy the bandages. Got it.”

There was silence between them for a few moments after that, although it wasn’t really of the uncomfortable variety. More like one of those quiet moments between friends where words aren’t needed to fill up the empty places.

Finally, Wedge spoke again, although it was low enough that Wes almost didn’t catch what he said. "You'll never believe it, but I was actually starting to get worried about you."

“You? Worry about me? You’re right I don’t believe it. I mean, I’ve been in worse situations than this before, and come through in the end. There must be half a dozen of them at least. After all, I was only shot this time. I could have been blown up again, instead.”

“Well, lets just try and keep the damage to a minimum next time, all right? I have enough to do without dealing with you being laid up on top of everything else.”

Wes smiled lopsidedly and cocked his head slightly. It was the closes thing to lifting his eyebrow he could manage at the moment. “Is that why you’re sitting here, pretending to be all worried about me? So you don’t have to do your work? Wedge Antilles, I am shocked and appalled. Why, you’d think I was rubbing off on you or something.” 

Which, came out sounding very wrong, somehow.

Wedge snorted, and Wes could hear him get to his feet. “Just for that, I’m going to leave you to the tender mercy of the medical droids. I’ll see you in a few days, after I finally get around to signing the release form saying your eligible to come back to work.”

Uh oh. “Wedge, you wouldn’t do that to me, would you? I’ll go stir crazy without someone to talk to or something to do! You know I will.”

“Goodbye, Janson.”

A moment later Wes heard the door open and close, and he sighed deeply. One day, he really would learn to control his mouth just a little bit better.


	65. Terra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge sends Wes and Hobbie to a planet to check something out.

"Where did you say we were again?"

Hobbie consulted his datapad, pulling up the information. "Someplace called Kansas."

Wes sighed as he continued walking through the field. Given the fact that the plants were growing in such precise patterns, he was relatively sure they must be some form of food supply. He figured that also meant that they must be close to some form of civilization, although it had been ages since they had seen anything except the plants. "That must mean ‘the middle of nowhere’ in the Terran language."

"It does seem that way, but at least we should be getting close to the coordinates that Wedge gave us to check out."

"I hope so, because this is getting really…" Wes trailed off as he suddenly stopped, causing Hobbie to walk right into him.

Sighing, Hobbie backed off a bit and checked to make sure he hadn’t damaged any of the equipment. "How many times do I have to tell you to warn me before you stop suddenly?"

"I think I found it."

The unmistakable sound of Wes trying hard not to laugh caused Hobbie to peek around his shoulder in order to see what was so amusing. "What in the Force is that thing?"

Walking closer, Wes reached out and touched the figure. However when it started to glow and make eerie sounding noises, he just couldn’t contain the laughter anymore. He did cover his mouth though to try and dampen the noise somewhat, just in case they weren’t alone. 

Hobbie shook his head and moved closer to examine the thing more thoroughly. "It looks to be some sort of synthetic material."

Wiping tears from his eyes, Wes nodded slightly, having come to the same conclusion when he had touched it a moment before. "I think it’s supposed to be the Terran idea of an alien."

After considering the item for a moment, Hobbie slowly nodded. "Well, it does bare a vague resemblance to a Nautolan, although without the tendrils. I just don’t see why they would have made something like this and then placed it in a field out here."

Right about then, a rather large black bird flew towards them, and landed on the plastic figure. As it started to glow and make those eerie noises again, the bird became startled and flew away. Wes watched this, then looked at Hobbie and started to snicker again. "Guess that answers that question."

Shaking his head, Hobbie entered a note into the datapad and started back the way they had come. "I bet Wedge is laughing about this somewhere."

Wes just grinned as he followed his friend back towards their hidden ships. "Somehow I always knew he’d be a good little padawan."


	66. Never Boring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tycho and Wedge discuss how Wedge went wrong when he was in charge of the Rogues.

Tycho looked at Wedge with something that could have very easily been reproach. In fact if it hadn’t been for the longtime friendship between the two men, some would have even seen it as insubordination. “I hope you realize that this is all your fault.”

Lifting an eyebrow, Wes considered his friend for a long moment before he bothered answering. “How exactly do you figure?”

“Well first of all, you should have fixed this problem a long time ago. If _you_ had taken care of it back when you were in charge of the Rogues, then _I_ wouldn’t be dealing with it now.”

There was the barest hint of amusement in Wedge’s tone of voice as he answered the accusation. “You make it sound as though I actually had some kind of control over this kind of incident. I would have thought you would have realized a long time ago that such a thing doesn’t exist.”

Shaking his head, Tycho mock glared at him. “That is not the point. The point is that Janson at least listened to you on occasion.”

Wedge half laughed, half snorted. “Oh sure he did. When it came down to orders for missions and things that had to do with the job.” He leaned back in his chair as he looked across his desk. “He hasn’t become a problem in that regard, has he?”

Sighing, Tycho shook his head. “No. He still listens to me on the important things. He argues his viewpoint with me on occasion, but in the end he always does what needs to be done.”

“Then why are you letting his little quirks bother you so much, Tycho? It’s not like he’s changed all that much over the years. You should be used to them by now.”

“That’s the problem. He _hasn’t_ changed. I always hoped that by the time I had to deal with him he would have grown up a little bit. If anything, he seems to have gotten worse.”

Now Wedge laughed outright, although he quickly covered it by coughing and then reaching for the glass of water sitting on his desk to cover it up. Clearing his throat, he took a drink and then set the glass back down before looking back at his friend. “He’s testing you. Seeing what he can get away with and what you’re going to put your foot down on.”

Tycho snorted softly. “It’s aggravating, Wedge. It seems like every day he’s done _something_ and I’m about at my wits end. How did you put up with it for so long without wanting to throttle him anyway?”

“Just because I didn’t do it, doesn’t mean that I didn’t think about it on occasion.” Wedge sat up and gave Tycho a somewhat sympathetic look. “Besides, you do have to admit one thing.”

“What’s that?”

"It's never boring, that's for sure."

Shaking his head slightly, Tycho gave Wedge a wry look. “There are days that I would kill for a little boredom. Well, maybe just maim, but still.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Tycho. One day, you might just get it.”


	67. Favors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hobbie owes Wes a favor, and it's time to deliver.

Hobbie was sure that he had somehow gotten drunk and simply failed to realize that it had happened. It didn’t matter that he had only had a few drinks, which was not even close to enough to get him slightly tipsy let alone drunk. He knew that he had to be drunk in spite of that fact because that was the only real explanation for what he was seeing, or so he kept telling himself. After all, even Wes wasn’t that obsessed, right?

"What do you think, Hobbie? Pretty stylish huh?"

Wrong. "Wes, there are Ewoks on your feet."

"Yeah, I know. See there was this gift exchange thing with the Wraiths for Midwinter and Shalla got my name. This was the result." Wes held up his foot and wiggled his toes, showing off how each one was individually wrapped in fabric.

"They’re…interesting." It was the only word that came to mind.

Wes just grinned and then reached under his bunk and tossed a brightly wrapped package at Hobbie, who caught in reflexively. "I’m glad you think so, because I got her to tell me where she got them, and I got a pair for everyone. Not all with Ewoks of course, cause that would be boring."

 _Of course_ , Hobbie thought as he held the package at arms length as though it might explode at any moment. "Wes, you really shouldn’t have."

"What are friends for, Hobbs, if not to embarrass each other on holidays?"

"I’ll be sure to keep that in mind."

"I know." After a moment Wes cocked his head slightly and pointed to gift. "Aren’t you going to open it?"

"Do I have to?"

"No, but if you don’t then I’m going to have to find something even more special to get you, and I’ll make sure it’s bigger and more obnoxious." Wes paused for a moment just for the effect. "It will also be really loud."

Knowing that Wes would follow through on the threat, Hobbie sighed and opened the gift. A few moments later he pulled out a pair of the same type of toe socks that Wes already had on. Only instead of Ewoks, his pair had bright yellow happy faces all over them. Winking, happy faces even. 

"Well?"

Hobbie attempted a half-hearted smile as he set the socks back in the box. "They’re great. Really."

"Good, then you won’t mind putting them on."

"…Now?"

Wes nodded and got to his feet. "Yep, because now you’re going to help me deliver them to everyone else."

"I am?"

"You are," Wes said as he pulled a rather large sack of the gifts out of the storage locker at the foot of his bed.”

"Why exactly?"

"Because you owe me for that little incident last week, remember?"

Hobbie frowned slightly. "That was an accident and you know it."

"Doesn’t matter. You still owe me." Wes grinned as he slung the bag over his shoulder. "Come on, get the socks on so we can get going."

Sighing, Hobbie took of his boots and his regular socks, and slipped into the brightly colored toe socks. "I think this goes above and beyond, Wes."

"Okay, so I’ll owe you some afterward. Not a whole favor though. More like half of one."

"After all you’ve put me through?"

Wes thought about it as Hobbie got to his feet, looking more mournful than ever, which made the happy face socks that much more amusing. "All right, I’ll owe you a whole favor."

"Then shouldn’t the favor I owe you be canceled out by the favor you’re going to owe me?" It was worth a shot.

"Well it would, except that I don’t owe you one yet, so unless you do this favor for me than I won’t owe you one which would means that you would still owe me." Wes said as he opened the door.

"That made no sense whatsoever."

"Sure it did, now let’s go. We have socks to deliver." Wes grinned as he pushed a reluctant Hobbie out into the corridor and let the door slide shut behind them.


	68. A Great Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had seemed like a great idea at the time.

"Pssst, Hobbie…"

The lump under the covers twitched slightly, but that was pretty much the extent of things.

Sighing, Wes reached out and poked the lump again, this time a little more forcefully. He had known going in that his friend wouldn’t wake up easily, what with the celebration the night before and all, but he really did need his help at the moment. "Hobbie, wake up."

This time a hand appeared and tried to brush him away. "Five minutes." A moment later, the hand disappeared back under the covers.

"Hobbie, come on. Don’t make me get the squirt blaster out again." This time Wes reached out and shook the lump, hoping maybe that would do a better job of getting Hobbie to at least show his face if nothing else.

A moment later the blankets shifted a bit and a disheveled looking head of hair poked out, followed a moment later by a pair of pale blue eyes. "Wes, this had better be good or I…" Hobbie trailed off as he got a better look at Wes, and it was several moments before he actually spoke again. "Why do you have Tycho’s flight helmet?"

Wes could tell by Hobbie’s tone of voice that he wasn’t really sure he wanted to know the answer to the question. "Well you see, I had this great idea this morning when I woke up, but it didn’t quite go off like I had planned." He then held up his hand, fingers splayed out so that Hobbie could see that he wasn’t actually holding the helmet, yet it stayed attached to his hand just the same.

Groaning, Hobbie tried to bury himself back under the blankets. "It’s too early for this, Wes!"

"Come on, Hobbes, I need you’re help to get some solvent so I can get the adhesive off before someone sees me."

Glancing at the chronometer, Hobbie snorted softly. "We’re due in the hanger before too long. How exactly were you planning on getting it back without being seen?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead to be honest with you, but we can deal with that when we get there. Right now I just need to get it off, because I'm pretty sure that the cockpit of Tycho’s ship isn’t going to hold the both of us while we run through exercises this afternoon."

Sighing, Hobbie finally threw the blankets off as he fixed Wes with a glare and reached for his boots. "You owe me for this, Janson."

"Just put it on my tab."


	69. Possession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes even Wedge can't figure out Wes' methods.

"It was at that moment that I knew he was possessed."

Wedge lifted an eyebrow slightly as he leaned back in his chair and looked at the man sitting across from his desk. "Possessed is an awfully strong term, don’t you think?"

Hobbie shook his head mournfully, as only he could manage. "Normally I’d say yes, but you weren’t there, Wedge. You didn’t hear him talking about his trip to the past to see a dead Jedi."

"This is Wes we’re talking about. He’d say pretty much anything if he were trying to play some kind of prank on you."

"I saw the cake, Wedge. It was almost as tall as he was and was decorated with a bunch of Ewok figurines and a working scale model catapult. Something inside it giggled. He went into the storage room near our quarters and didn’t come out for an hour. When he finally reappeared there was no cake!"

"Did you search the storage room?"

Hobbie gave him an exasperated look. "Of course I did. I couldn’t even find a crumb showing the cake had ever been there."

Wedge frowned slightly. "So you went to talk to him and he told you this crazy story about a time machine and a mission to make Obi-Wan Kenobi’s birthday more interesting?"

"Exactly."

Wedge reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose and sighed before finally nodding. "All right, go ahead and send him in here and I’ll talk to him."

Looking relieved, Hobbie nodded and left the room. 

A few moments later the door slid open again and Wes poked his head inside. "Hobbie said you wanted to see me?"

Nodding, Wedge indicated the seat that Hobbie had recently vacated and watched as Wes walked over and sat down. "Hobbie was just telling me about this little adventure you supposedly had this morning. Would you care to let me know what’s _really_ going on?"

"I took a cake to Obi-Wan Kenobi for his birthday."

"Wes…"

Sitting up a bit, Wes started digging around in his jacket for something. "I have holos and everything!"

Wedge watched in disbelief as Wes pulled out a display disk and plugged it into the holopad that was sitting on the corner of his desk. A few moments later an image appeared suspended over the device and Wedge’s mouth dropped open.

"This is Obi-Wan as I wheeled the cake into the banquet hall of the Temple." Click. "Here’s this one guy, Mace Windu, when the Twi’lek dancing girls I’d hired jumped out of the cake." Wes shook his head slightly. "That guy really needs to work on his sense of humor. He’s not nearly as much fun as Kit Fisto." Click. "Now there was a guy who knew how to have fun." Click. "Oh, and this is Yoda when one of the girls decided to get frisky. Suffice it to say that the girls and I had to beat a rather hasty exit afterward." Click. "However, the look on the birthday boy’s face was totally worth it."

Wedge looked at each holo as it came up, still unable to believe what he was seeing. "How…"

Wes removed the display disk from the holopad and slipped it back into his pocket. "It’s pretty complicated, Wedge, but I can have the specifications for the device sent over to you later this afternoon."

Wedge looked at him for a long moment, and then narrowed his eyes slightly. "I don’t know how you pulled this one off, Wes, but I _will_ find out."

Wes just grinned as he got to his feet and headed out the door. "Good luck with that."


	70. Practically Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge has a problem, and only Wes and Hobbie can help out.

It had all started with a comlink call.

Wes, I need you and Hobbie at my place just as soon as you can get here. It’s urgent.

Wes had agreed of course because when the boss called you didn’t ask questions, even if he wasn’t really your boss anymore. You just did what you were told and you did it as quickly as possible. This was especially true when your normally cool and collected boss had that slightly stressed tone in his voice, which was never a good thing. Yet, with all the possibilities that had gone through Wes’ mind on the way over, this one had never even been a blip on the radar. "You want us to do _what_?"

"It’s only for a few hours."

Hobbie’s usually mournful face had somehow managed to become even more so as he looked at Wedge in disbelief. "Wedge, I think maybe you’ve got the wrong people for this assignment." He glanced at Wes then amended his statement slightly. "Well, at least one of us is wrong anyway."

Wes refrained from sticking his tongue out at Hobbie only through sheer force of will. Instead, he kept his eyes on Wedge. “How come you picked us anyway?”

Wedge shrugged slightly. "Truthfully? There wasn’t anyone else. Besides, the girls love you guys. You’re practically family."

In a last ditch effort to get out of it, Hobbie decided to point out a major flaw in Wedge’s plan. "Ummm, remember what happened the last time Wes came over to see the girls?"

"Hey, that was _not_ my fault! How was I supposed to know that Syal was allergic to that stuff?"

Looking at Hobbie, Wedge just smiled. "Why do you think I included you, Hobbie? Somebody needs to supervise."

Hobbie was sure he had heard it right, but that didn't make it any easier to believe. After all, there was a lot of history that Wedge was obviously forgetting in his desperation. That was really the only explanation. "You want me to supervise Wes? Since when has that ever worked?"

Wedge however, was already headed for the door. "I shouldn't be gone that long, so stop worrying. Besides, the girls are napping at the moment anyway. If you're lucky they won't even wake up before I get back." 

Before Hobbie could remind Wedge that luck was not really his strong suit unless it involved walking away from a crash, he was gone.

Wes threw a friendly arm over Hobbie's shoulder and grinned. "Come on, Hobbie, how hard can it be to watch a couple of toddlers?"

_A couple of hours later..._

It had been as good as a death sentence, Hobbie thought as he tried to catch Myri, who had slipped through his fingers yet again. He had known it as soon as the words had come out of Wes' mouth. "They are going to kill us, you realize that, right?"

Wes' voice was somewhat muffled as he answered, since his head was underneath the bed where Syal had apparently taken refuge. "You're making a big deal out of nothing here, Hobbs. After all, they're just kids."

Rolling his eyes, Hobbie turned his head to glare at his friend, although it was more of a reflex action than anything else given Wes' current position. "Not them. Wedge and Iella." Unfortunately, while he was distracted, Myri made a dash for the door leading back to the main part of the house. "Myri!" Hobbie scrambled after her and was just fast enough to keep her from getting through the door, although not quite fast enough to actually catch her. Which of course led him on another merry chase around the bedroom. Next time around he promised himself that he was going to make sure the door was locked, just in case one of them tried for another escape. It was something that he and Wes should have done from the start, but neither of them had thought about it until it was too late.

Suddenly Wes made a noise of triumph, and a moment later he emerged out from under the bed with a child in hand. "Got her!"

"Great. Now you can catch mine so that we can get this mess cleaned up before..."

Right about then there was the distinct sound of a throat being cleared from the doorway.

It never quite failed to amaze Hobbie how people tended to show up at the most awkward times. He had also noted that it happened a lot more frequently when Wes was around. In fact, he had even given the phenomenon a name. He called it 'The Wes Effect'. "Hey, Wedge..." 

Myri, upon seeing her father, shrieked and headed straight for him. Hobbie was just quick enough this time to snag her before she got her tiny little hands on Wedge, and he swung her around once so that she started to giggle rather than getting mad that she had been thwarted in her plans.

Syal would have been trying to get to her father as well, but by this time Wes had a firm hold on her, or as firm as he could manage given her condition and all the squirming she was doing. He had the wild urge to try and put the child behind his back, but it passed quickly and instead he managed a lopsided grin as he looked at over at Wedge. "Hey, boss. You're back earlier than I was expecting."

Wedge didn't say anything at first. Instead he took a moment to survey the room, and then the state of his children as well as the two men who had been watching over them. Finally he looked back up, meeting each of their eyes for a moment before settling on Wes. After all, it was most likely his fault anyway. "So I see. Would you like to explain to me why exactly my children are green?"

Wes glanced at Hobbie, who just shrugged a bit as he struggled to keep hold of Myri. It had been his idea, that shrug said, so he was going to have to do the talking. Sighing softly, Wes then turned his attention back to Wedge. "Well you see, the girls woke up about an hour after you left. So we fed them and stuff, but after a while they got bored and wanted to play. So I was looking through some of their stuff and I found these finger paints and thought it would be a good way for them to pass the time until you or Iella got home. You know, let them express their artistic side a bit."

The expression on Wedge's face remained unreadable. "Uh huh, and did you ever consider using durasheet for that rather than the walls?"

Shifting Myri into the crook of his arm and holding her tight against his body, Hobbie quickly pointed out that the pile of sheets drying over by the wall. "We _did_ use durasheets, but then before we even knew what was happening they had left their hand prints on the walls. I was going to clean that up while Wes got the girls in the 'fresher to clean _them_ up, but then Syal got away from him and, well, it just kind of escalated from there."

"Besides you like green, right? I mean, you had your X-wing painted with it for a while and everything. Plus I hear it's a very calming color, which might be a good thing to have here in the girls room." 

"You think so, huh?" A slight smile curled one corner of Wedge's mouth. "Well it just so happens that Iella and I were discussing that very possibility, and I can't tell you how happy I am that you've volunteered to take on that little job."

Hobbie groaned inwardly, and relaxed his hold on Myri just enough that she managed to squirm away from him. A moment later Wedge had picked her up, apparently unconcerned with the still wet paint that covered her hands and parts of her arms. 

Syal looked at Wes and her voice took on a rather commanding tone as she pointed at the ground. "Down."

Still somewhat stunned by the sudden realization that he had been hijacked into painting the girls room, Wes put her down and watched as she too ran to Wedge. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather have it done professionally, or maybe get one of those things were you can change the color of the walls with a touch of a button? I hear those are all the rage these days and Iella would..." Wes trailed off as he saw the look he was getting from Wedge. "Right. First thing in the morning then?"

"I look forward to seeing you both."


	71. Public Humiliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tycho knows exactly how to deal with every possible situation.

It was just after midnight when he heard the screech echo through the forest. Thinking that someone or something had gotten past their security measures, Tycho grabbed his blaster and ran outside to see what was going on.

What he saw would later become the stuff of legend among the Rogues.

Wes Janson, clad in nothing but his underclothes, jumping around camp and screeching obscenities while trying to dislodge a small, furry growth from one leg.

Later, once they had managed to remove the young Ewok, Tycho glanced at Wes with the barest hint of amusement in his eyes. “But I thought you liked the little guys, Janson”

“I like them just fine when they don’t decide to sneak into my tent in the middle of the night and latch onto me like a Trintan leech.”

“Maybe she just likes you. You are a real lady-killer, or so you keep saying anyway.”

“Don’t even go there, Tycho.”

“Ewok love is a powerful thing.”

“I swear I’ll shoot you in your sleep.”

Tycho just clapped Wes on the back, all traces of amusement gone. “Don’t worry, Wes. I won’t say another word.”

Wes wasn’t entirely sure he should believe him, but it was Tycho, and he was more trustworthy than most when it came to such promises. Too bad for Wes he didn’t realize until later that Tycho was very literal about keeping his word. He never _said_ anything, but he certainly had a grand time writing his field report to Wedge later on that day.


	72. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's too damn cold.

“You know, there are times I almost remember what it was like to be warm.”

Hobbie glanced over at his friend. “We’ve only been here for a couple of weeks, Wes.”

“Maybe, but it seems like a lot longer.” He set the cup he had wrapped his hands around down on the table and shook his head. “Even the caf is ice cold after a minute.”

“It’s worse than that.”

Wes cringed as he looked at his friend. “I hate it when you say that, Hobbs. What is it this time?”

“This is actually the warm season.”

“Sithspit.”

“Told you.”


	73. Unfinished Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes finds the perfect gift for Wedge, and helps out an old friend in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place sometime after 'The Last Jedi'

This was going to be harder than he had originally thought, Wes realized as he looked at the annoyed Wookiee in front of him.

“I told you, we were trying to get there. There was some communication issues is all.”

Chewie made a cynical sounding growl.

“Issues as in our equipment was being held together with whatever we happened to have on hand, and that wasn't much. Hell, we had to scavenge from our X-wing parts just to make the damn thing work. Then we had to get the fighters back in flying shape from the scavenging and...”

There was an irritated sound.

“I'm serious! Look, I'm doing you a favor here! You don't want these things on your ship, right? So just help me out, and I'll make sure that not a single one is left on the Falcon. Everybody wins in this scenario.”

Well, almost everyone.

Chewie is quiet for a moment, then makes series of growls and throaty gurgling sounds.

“Okay, fine. I won't touch the one in the cockpit. So, do we have a deal?”

There's a brief pause, and then an almost reluctant nod.

“Excellent,” Wes said with a slow grin. 

Wedge was certain to remember this Lbirthday for a long, long time.


	74. Too Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedge is worried, but Wes manages to snap him out of it.

Wes slowly opened his eyes, then blinked a bit in the bright lights of what could only be a med bay. As things started to come into focus more, he noticed Wedge standing near the edge of his bed. The look on his face was an odd mix of relief and concern.

Obviously things had not gone according to plan.

“How long,” he asked in a voice that was rough from disuse, which was not a good sign.

“Too long,” Wedge said as he stepped closer. Noting the look he was getting from the man in the bed, he shrugged his shoulders slightly. “You were in the tank for a few days, and you've been...asleep for almost two weeks.”

Wes frowned a bit. Usually bacta treatments were a matter of hours, not days. And while it was typical to sleep afterward for some time during recovery, the pause made Wes suspicious. “Asleep?”

His commanding officer sighed before he answered. “There were some issues, and they put you into an induced coma so they could fix the problem. It just took a little longer than they expected for you to come out of it is all.”

“Is that why you look constipated?”

Wedge glared at him, though there was a sense of relief there as well. The medical staff had told him that the extent of the injuries caused by the crash and resulting explosion had left some question as to whether Wes would be quite the same when he finally came out of the coma. Given the question, and the hint of a smirk on Wes' face, those concerns seemed unfounded.

“They want to run a few tests before giving you clearance to return to duty. Keep in mind that I can see to it they run every test known to medical science, whether it's needed or not, so I'd be careful if I were you.”

The look on Wes' face was reminiscent of a small child caught in the act, and still hoping to get out of trouble. “Understood.”

“Good. Now get some rest.” Wedge held up a hand as Wes started to protest. “I am well aware of how long you've already been in bed, but a coma is not the same thing as resting. Consider it an order, if nothing else.”

Wes sighed, but he knew that look, and it had been more a habit than anything else anyway. He felt like he could sleep for another week. Still. “Can I at least have visitors?”

After a moment, Wedge nodded. “I'll let the Rogues know you're up for visitors later this evening, _if_ you follow orders.

Wes gave him a lopsided grin. “I'll be a perfect patient, I promise.”

Wedge had his doubts, especially given that smile, but then Wes was perfectly capable of behaving like an actual adult when he wanted something. Most of the time. “I'll stop by with them, just to be sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to catch up on, and you really do look like you could use some actual sleep.”

There was a slight pout, but then Wes nodded his agreement. His voice then took on a hopeful tone. “Could you maybe bring me some refreshments when you come back?” 

Wedge snorted, because they both knew that Wes wasn't talking about food. “Don't push your luck anymore than you already have, Janson.” He glanced back at Wes, who was the picture of innocence, then shook his head slightly before taking his leave.

Wes might have been both a blessing and a curse at times, but Wedge wouldn't have it any other way.


	75. If We Get Arrested, I'm Blaming You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hobbie grumbles about how often Wes gets them in trouble.

“If we get arrested, I'm blaming you.”

Wes snorted softly, amused.

“I'm serious!”

“I know. You're obviously serious because you say the same thing every time we step foot outside our room.” 

“You always get us into trouble,” Hobbie muttered, “or I wouldn't end up saying it so much.”

“Yet you're still here, despite your misgivings. Admit it, you like trouble,” Wes teased as he put the finishing touches on his latest masterpiece.

“Just hurry up already. Wedge is still annoyed about the last time, so I'd really rather not be here when...”

"When what?"

At the sound of Wedge's voice, Hobbie took a moment to collect himself before he slowly turned around. “It's not my fault.”

“It never is,” Wedge said as he glanced at Wes' handiwork. “I got a report that some fireworks had gone missing. I see that you two managed to find them. That's good because I would hate to have to tell the Admiral they had been stolen. Being as how they're explosive and all,” he said pointedly. “It would lead to all kinds of problems for whoever was stupid enough to take them. Don't you agree?”

Wes nodded, looking as innocent as it was possible for him to look. So not very. “Yes, sir.

“Excellent. I want them back by the end of the hour."

“Yes, sir,” Hobbie agreed.

Wedge glanced between the two of them, his eyes narrowing slightly. “In fact, I think I'll walk you over there, just to make sure I can properly sign off on the report."

Hobbie practically sighed with relief. He knew Wes would have figured out a way to keep some of them, despite the obvious warning.

Wedge just watched them as they gathered everything together, and Wes flashed Hobbie a rather lopsided grin. “See? You were worried for nothing.”

Hobbie looked at him, brow furrowed in disbelief. “How do you figure?”

“We didn't get arrested after all.”

“It's still early,” Hobbie said mournfully, sure that Wes would still find a way.

He usually did.


	76. Blackout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wes wakes up, and he's definitely not in bed. Stupid hangovers.

Wes groaned softly as his mind slowly started to swim up out of the blurry fog that seemed to have engulfed it, his eyes slowly opening and then squinting shut again in the bright light of the room. He swallowed and grimaced, as it seemed his throat had been coated in some kind of acid that caused it to be scratchy and dry. His head seemed like it was about ready to explode like an eyeball caught in his cross-hairs. Basically what it came down to was he felt like he had been run over by a sandcrawler and he had no recollection of why.

He slowly tried to sit up, but then found another problem in that he seemed to be tangled up in someone else. He paused for a moment and hoped that he had enjoyed whatever had happened with whomever it was that he was entwined with before opening one eye to see who it was. He frowned slightly, opening the other eye as he recognized Hobbie. Then he turned his head a little and noticed that they weren't in their quarters, but were propped up against the wall in a corridor somewhere on the base.

It was then that he noticed the steady booming noise in the back of his head. He whimpered softly and tried to get his hands up to cover his ears when he noticed that the sound appeared to be coming from a booted foot that was tapping just off to the right hand side of his vision. He slowly raised his eyes and was soon looking into the obviously aggravated face of his Commander. He gave Wedge his most innocent smile, and couldn't help put wonder why Wedge's face was splattered in what appeared to be purple paint.


End file.
